title: Self-adjusting, isostatic exoskeleton for the human knee joint.
abstract: A knee-joint exoskeleton design that can apply programmable torques to the articulation and that self-adjusts to its physiological movements is described. Self-adjustment means that the articular torque is automatically produced around the rotational axis of the joint. The requirements are first discussed and the conditions under which the system tracks the spatial relative movements of the limbs are given. If these conditions are met, the torque applied to the joint takes into account the possible relative movements of the limbs without introducing constraints. A prototype was built to demonstrate the applicability of these principles and preliminary tests were carried out to validate the design.
authors.affiliation: UPMC Univ Paris 06, Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, Paris, France. cai@isir.upmc.fr
authors.forename: Viet Anh Dung
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bidaud
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hayward
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gosselin
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Desailly
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007593:Joint Instability / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009989:Orthotic Devices; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation*