Biomechanical Design of a Novel Flexible Exoskeleton for Lower Extremities

This paper presents a novel wearable walking assistance device for the elderly to provide physical gait assistance. The wearable device, to be worn invisibly underneath clothes, not only fits tightly to the wearer's lower body, but also comfortably transmits assistive torque to the wearer's hip/knee joint. To overcome deficiencies in the usability of conventional wearable walking assistance devices, two novel features are proposed: 1) a unique flexible support frame that withstands vertical loads while maintaining the natural curvature of the wearer's lower body; and 2) a kinematically similar anthropomorphic joint that minimizes the unintended resistance force during the wearer's usual motions. The developed wearable walking assistance device based on these features was verified by simulations and experiments whose results are described.