基于织物的柔性可穿戴上肢运动辅助系统设计

Design of a Fabric-based Soft Wearable Upper-limb Motion Assistive System

  • 摘要: 神经性肌肉疾病以及关节性疾病容易导致上肢功能的运动障碍,然而现有的可穿戴机器人体型笨重、成本高昂,难以满足日常生活中运动辅助的需求。为此,本文基于轻质柔性的织物开发了一种便携舒适的柔性可穿戴上肢运动辅助系统,用于肩部和肘部的运动辅助。首先,针对肩部和肘部关节的运动特性,设计了肩部外展驱动器和肘部弯曲驱动器,并建立了其理论分析模型。其中,受关节处的皮肤启发,肘部驱动器增加了波纹褶皱以减小机械阻力,同时通过曲率限制层适配关节曲率。然后,将驱动器集成到运动服上,开展了机械透明性与运动范围测试,并进行了负载实验与日常生活任务模拟。结果表明:该系统具有良好的机械透明性,且运动范围能满足日常需求;负载实验中,中三角肌、肱二头肌的激活水平分别降低52.2%和54.0%;在日常生活任务模拟中,在系统的协同运动辅助下各肌肉激活水平均有明显降低。该系统具备良好的柔顺性与便携性,基本可以达到机械透明并提供日常生活所需的运动辅助。

     

    Abstract: Neuromuscular diseases and joint disorders often lead to upper-limb motion impairments. However, the existing wearable robots are bulky and expensive, inadequate for daily motion assistance. To address this matter, a portable, comfortable, flexible and wearable upper-limb assistive system is developed based on lightweight flexible fabric, to assist shoulder and elbow motions. Firstly, shoulder abduction and elbow flexion actuators are designed based on the motion characteristics of the shoulder and elbow joints, and their theoretical analysis models are established. Inspired by the skin at the joints, the elbow actuator is equipped with corrugated folds to reduce mechanical resistance, and adapts the joint curvature through the curvature limiting layer. Then, the actuators are integrated into a garment, and tests on mechanical transparency and motion range are conducted, as well as load experiments and simulations of daily life tasks. Results show that the system has good mechanical transparency, and its motion range can meet the daily needs; in the load experiments, the activation levels of the middle deltoid muscle and the biceps brachii, decrease by 52.2% and by 54.0% separately; in the simulation of daily life tasks, the coordinated motion assistance provided by the system significantly decrease the muscle activation levels. The system exhibits good flexibility and portability, and can achieve mechanical transparency while providing the necessary motion assistance for daily life.

     

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