Design on the Bowden Cable-Driven Upper Limb Soft Exoskeleton

Abstract

To assist hemiplegic patients with the activities of daily life, many upper limb soft exoskeletons have been developed. In this paper, we propose the structure of upper limb soft exoskeleton for rehabilitation training based on human biomechanics. The soft driving structure based on Bowden cable is devised. Man-machine interaction force must be considered because it can damage on the joint and lead to arm discomfort. We focus on structural optimization to minimize man-machine interaction force. Human arm model is established to perform motion simulation in ADAMS. To summarize optimality conditions, the movements of elbow are simulated in ADAMS when the number and location of force bearing points are changed. This paper describes the movement of the shoulder skeletal system through a mathematical model based on the Bowden cable transmission and utilizes man-machine contact force sensor to detect human interaction forces for analysis of experimental data. The experimental results show that man-machine interaction force can be reduced when the number of bearing force points is increased and bearing force point is away from the elbow.