Overview: Types of Lower Limb Exoskeletons

Abstract

Researchers have given attention to lower limb exoskeletons in recent years. Lower limb exoskeletons have been designed, prototype tested through experiments, and even produced. In general, lower limb exoskeletons have two different objectives: (1) rehabilitation and (2) assisting human work activities. Referring to these objectives, researchers have iteratively improved lower limb exoskeleton designs, especially in the location of actuators. Some of these devices use actuators, particularly on hips, ankles or knees of the users. Additionally, other devices employ a combination of actuators on multiple joints. In order to provide information about which actuator location is more suitable; a review study on the design of actuator locations is presented in this paper. The location of actuators is an important factor because it is related to the analysis of the design and the control system. This factor affects the entire lower limb exoskeleton’s performance and functionality. In addition, the disadvantages of several types of lower limb exoskeletons in terms of actuator locations and the challenges of the lower limb exoskeleton in the future are also presented in this paper.