A Novel Design Method for the Knee Joint of the Exoskeleton Based on the Modular Wearable Sensor

Abstract

Abstract This paper innovatively proposes an artificial knee joint customization design scheme based on modular wearable sensors. It aims to solve the compatibility and security problem of wearable devices for different individual knee joints. The method consists of two main parts: measurement and customization. A wearable sensor with three joints is proposed and analyzed. The sensor can measure the kinematic characteristics of human knee joints to obtain the customized design parameters of artificial joints. Designed a bionic four-link knee joint, and the parameters of the connecting rod were optimized by a genetic algorithm based on the measured data. In particular, the measuring device and knee joint are designed in a modular way, and they can be used on the same platform. The modular design method can be used to customize joints for different individuals, which simplifies the difficulty of customization and effectively reduces the cost. After the modular knee joint's optimized design, this paper mainly conducted a number of comparative tests. The comparative test results of three joints show that the dynamic tracking accuracy of customized joints is 54.9% higher than that of ordinary joints and 70.5% higher than that of hinge joints. The results show that personalized customization for individuals can improve human-machine coupling performance.