Brief Biomechanical Analysis on the Walking for a
Lower-Limb Rehabilitation Exoskeleton
Pietro Alberto Miranda-Pereira
Biomechatronics research Group
Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería
Lima – Peru
pietro.miranda.p@gmail.com
Abstract—This study presents a kinematic and dynamic
analysis of human normal walking in order to establish a
mathematical model for the control system of a lower-limb
exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation. Based on the number of
supported legs, the model analysis was divided into two: a serial
approach for one supported leg and a parallel approach for two
supported legs. The full model consists on a 7-link system with
six actuated joints. The kinematic analysis was performed by
Denavit-Hartenberg method and the dynamic analysis was
obtained by Euler-Lagrange equations. The human body inertial
parameters were obtained from previous studies. The references
for angles, angular velocities and angular accelerations were
obtained by video recording analysis.
Keywords—Exoskeleton, lower limb, kinematics, dynamics,
biomechanics, walking rehabilitation.
I. INTRODUCTION
The production and research of robotics devices for
rehabilitation has increased in the last years. Several countries
are developing robotic systems for assistance and rehabilitation
of elderly, injured or disabled people, improving their quality
of life. These rehabilitation robotic systems [1, 2], can replace
losing parts of the body [3] or act as support for the body [4, 5].
Following this research area, the exoskeleton is one of the
projects which more attention has received.
An exoskeleton is a robotic suit in which their kinematic
chains correspond to those of the human limb; human and
exoskeleton are in a close physical and cognitive interaction
with an effective transfer of power between them [6].
Currently, most of the exoskeletons are used as tools for
physical therapist improving the performance of repetitive
movement therapies in paraplegic or quadriplegic people [7].
Besides, it helps to regain locomotion in activities of daily
living [8, 9]. And it is also used to provide additional power for
people suffering from muscular weakness [10, 11].
In rehabilitation, exoskeletons are mostly used in the
treatment of pathological gait in patients with SCI, post stroke
or muscular issues [2, 8, 9]. For the human being, walking and
moving around by themselves is the principal ability for daily
life activities and for an autonomous life.
II. GAIT PHASES
The human gait can be described as series of alternating
and rhythmic movements of lower-limbs, thus producing a
forward displacement of the centre of gravity [12]. The gait
Leonardo Paul Milián-Ccopa
Biomechatronics research Group
Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería
Lima – Peru
milepcco@gmail.com
cycle starts with the contact of one foot on the ground and ends
with the next contact of the same foot.
The gait cycle has two principal phases, stance phase and
swing phase. During walking each leg alternates the phases.
A. Stance phase
This phase covers approximately 60% of the total gait,
starts with the first heel touch on the ground and ends with the
take-off of the toes. The stance phase has two double support
periods, each one have an approximately duration of 10% of
the gait. Some important events are identified [12, 13]:
1) Initial Contact: Instant when heel touch the ground, the
first double support period starts.
2) Load response: Contact of the fore foot on the ground,
the first double support period ends. It happens at 10% of the
gait cycle.
3) Middle support: The center of the support foot is
aligned whit the greater troncanter. It happens at 30% of the
gait cycle.
4) Heel elevation: The weight-load go from the rearfoot to
the forefoot. The heel take-off and the second period of double
support starts. It happens at 50% of the gait cycle.
5) Pre-swing: to All the load is transferred the colateral
limb. It happens at 60% of the gait cycle.
6) Take-off of the toes: Instant when the toes left the
ground.
B. Swing phase
The swing phase covers approximately 40% of the total
gait, starts with the take-off of the toes and end with the heel
contact. In this phase 3 important intervals are identified [12,
13]:
1) Initial swing (Aceleration): Acceleration of the leg after
the take-off of the toes. It covers from 60% to 73% of the gait.
2) Middle swing: The swinging leg go infront of the
support leg with a pendular movement. It covers from 73% to
87% of the gait.
3) Final swing (Deceleration): The swinging legs
decelerate and go closer to the ground. It covers from 87% to
100% of the gait.
The duration of each phase strongly depends of the gait
speed, increasing the proportion of the swing phase in front of
the support phase with the speed, this reduces the double
support periods which disappear in the running [12].
limited to human normal limits. 3) Walking have 2 phases,
stance and swing, with 2 short periods of double support. 4)
Stance and swing phases are alternating in each leg. 5)
Walking takes place on a flat and antiskid surface. 6) The
model is divided in 2 sub models, simple support and double
support.
The kinematical model is developed with Denavit-
Hartenberg parameters. The references (angles, angular
velocities and angular accelerations) were obtained by a video
analysis [16] (Fig 2).

Fig. 1. Gait phases [12]

III. MUSCLE ACTIVITY

Based on the electromyography, it was found that most of
the lower limb muscles’ groups are activated during gait. Since
transfer of weight from one feet to another, muscle activity is
mainly at the beginning and the end of both stance and swing Fig. 2. Angular references obtained from video processing.
phase [14, 15].
Gluteus Maximus muscle, acts on the first part of stance A. Simple support
phase, by extending both hip and hamstring. The simple support model is used for the stance phase and
the swing phase, excluding the double support periods. In this
Hamstring muscles act at the first part of stance phase, not model we represent the body as a 7-link serial robot with 6
only for hip extension, it also prevents the knee full extension. active joints with the heel and the toe of the supported leg fixed
These muscles also act at the end of swing phase, slowing both to the ground. The Z axes are placed considering the natural
hip flexion and knee extension before heel strike. movements of the human joints; ankle (+dorsal flexion, -
Semitendinosus, sartorius and gracilis are part of the plantar flexion), knee (+flexion, -extension), hip (+flexion, -
muscles of pes anserinus. These three muscles are biarticular extension) (Fig. 3).
and protect knee by opposing to the load on physiological
valgus. Thus, stability of the knee is ensured at the moment of
impact with the ground heel and continues during stance phase.
Psoas iliac muscle acts at the beginning of the swing phase
to trigger hip flexion. Since movement starts in movement
previous to hip extension, its contraction shortens the lower-
limb and propels forward.
Quadriceps activity occurs at the end of the swing phase
during knee extension. It continues at the beginning of the
stance phase avoiding knee extension due to the weight of the
body.
Tibialis anterior and finger extensor act as ankle flexors a) b)
during rear-foot strike absorbing the shock. Then they act Fig. 3. Simple support model and axes a). Skematical model b). axes
again, but in a concentrically form, within the swing phase for
ankle flexion, thus avoiding collision with the ground by For the simulation of this model the angles between 10%-
shortening leg. 50%, for the supported leg, and 60%-100%, for the swing leg,
are considered (Fig. 6).
IV. KINEMATICAL ANALYSIS
B. Double support
We propose a 7-link model, 2 legs and a trunk with 6 DoF
and 6 active joints (ankle, knee and hip of each leg). In order The double support model is used exclusively for the
to improve the mathematical model the following double support period which has two points fixed to the ground
considerations have been proposed: 1) Each link is rigid and (fig 4a).
has mass. 2) The angular position, velocity and acceleration are
 For the double support model a parallel approach is used. In The constant (fig 4a ), the length of the gait, is needed to
this, the model is divided into 3 serial subsystems, take-off leg, achive the solution of the previous equation. This can be
landing leg and landing ankle-foot. The take-off toe and the obtained by evaluating the position of the landing ankle at the
landing heel are fixed to the ground, as show in the Fig. 5. The last moment of the simple support model.
system is divided in the middle of the trunk and in the landing
heel. The take-off leg is modelled as a 4-link serial robot with 3
active and 1 passive joint . The landing leg is modelled as a Finally we obtain:
3-link serial robot with 2 active and 1 passive joint .
Finally, the landing ankle is considered as a 1-link and 1 joint.

Where:
Angle of take-off angle
Angle of take-off knee
Angle of take-off hip
Angle of landing hip
a) b) Angle of landing knee
Fig. 4. Double support model and axes. a). Skematical model. b). Axes Angle of landing ankle
The Z axes are placed following the considerations of the For the simulation references between 0%-10%, for the
single support model. In the take-off leg: ankle (+dorsal take-off leg, and 50% -60%, for the landing leg, are considered
flexion, -plantar flexion), knee (+ flexion, - extension), hip (+ (Fig. 7).
flexion, -extension). In the landing leg: ankle (+ dorsal flexion,
-plantar flexion), knee (+ extension, -flexion), hip (+ extension,
-flexion). (Fig. 4b and 5)

Fig. 6. Simple support model Simulaton

a) b)

c)
Fig. 5. Skematic double support a) Take-off leg b) landing leg C) Landing
ankle

In order to determinate the pasive angles and the

postions on the sagital plane of the take-off and landing hip are
matched.

}
Fig. 7. Double support model Simulaton
 V. DYNAMICAL ANALISIS The model has active and passive angles; all of
this can be representing as a function of as equation (1) and
A. Inertia Parameters
(2). Then we have:
In order to obtain the joint torques is necessary estimate the
dynamic properties of the human body. Some authors [17-19] [ ]
had analysed the inertial parameters of human body. In this
work the Zatsiorsky-Leva parameters are used. These In the equivalent serial subsystem, [ ], with this
parameters were obtained by gamma ray in a group of 100
we obtain the dynamic equation as a variant of (5)
Caucasian male students and 15 female, with an average of 24
yrs., 73.0 Kg and 174.1 cm for male and 19 yrs., 61.9 Kg and ̈ ̇ ̇
173.5 cm for female. Later, P. Leva [20] adjusted the
parameters to show the segment length, mass, centre of mass Then the Lagrange variable of the serial sub system:
position, of each segment, and the rotation radio in each plane.

TABLE I. ZATSIORSKY-LEVA PARAMTERS [20]

̇
Length Mass CMa Ksb Ktc Kfd Considering eq. (6) we can parameterize the configuration
Segment space:
(mm) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Head 203.3 6.94 59.76 36.2 37.6 31.2
( ) ( )( )
Trunk 531.9 43.46 44.86 37.2 34.7 19.1 ̇ ̇
Arm 281.7 2.71 57.72 28.5 26.9 15.8
Fore Arm 268.9 1.62 45.74 27.6 26.5 12.1
Hand 86.2 0.61 79.00 62.8 51.3 40.1 Furthermore:
Shank 422.2 14.16 40.95 32.9 32.9 14.9
thigh 434.0 4.33 44.59 25.5 24.9 10.3
Foot 258.1 1.37 44.15 25.7 24.5 12.4
a.
̇ ̇
Centre of mass location
b.
Rotation radio in sagittal plane
c. ̈ ̈ ( ) ̇
Rotation radio in transversal plane
d.
}
Rotation radio in frontal plane
Then the Lagrange variable can be represented as:
B. Simple support
The dynamics in the simple support model is developed by ̇ ( ̇ ̇ ) ( ̇ ̇ )
Euler-Lagrange equation [21, 22]. This method uses the
difference between the kinetic and the potential energy of the
system (3) in order to find the torque necessary in each joint
(5). Then the parameters of the Lagrange equation of a closed
system:
( ̇ )
̇
Where:
̇ ̇ ̇ ̇ ̇ ̇
Kinetic Energy
Potential Energy
Then the Lagrange equation is: ( ) ( ) ( )
̇ ̇ ̇ ̇
( ̇ ) ( ̇ )
( ) ̇
̇ ( ) ( )
̇ ̇ ̇
In matrix form:
̈ ̇ ̇
C. Double support ̇
Since the double support model is based on the parallel Finally the Lagrange equation is rewriting as:
robot some mathematical derivations have to be performed to
the simple support model. For more details, please review [23].
̇

( ( ) ) ( ( ) )( )
̇ ̇
 CONCLUSIONS

[ ] The proposed model gives a mathematical approximation

for the whole gait, considering the 20% of double support
[ ] periods. For the simple support model a tree representation is
enough to determine the kinematic and dynamic equations. In
The new dynamic equations is the double support model, a parallel approach is necessary to
obtain the kinematic and dynamic equations, the passive joints
̈ ̇ ( ) can be represented as a function of active joints; moreover,
this implies a heavy mathematical computation. Finally, in
Where order to approximate the torques necessaries in each joint a
estimation of the body mass is necessary, the Zatsiorsky-Leva
( ) parameters is a useful data to achieve this.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
̇
( ) ( ) ( ) Special thanks to The Research Institute of the Mechanical
Engineering Faculty (INIFIM), National Institute of Research
( ) and Training in Telecommunications (INICTEL) , Robinson
Arevalo, Diego Flores Zavaleta, Liz Huauya and the Bio
In order to maintain the relations of the body parameters the mechatronics Research group for the constantly support to our
mass, the location of the centre of mass and the inertia moment projects.
of the trunk are divided and relocated.
REFERENCES
[1] D. Jayatilake, T. Isezaki, Y. Teramoto, K. Eguchi, and K. Suzuki,
―Robot assisted physiotherapy to support rehabilitation of facial
paralysis,‖ IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation
Engineering, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 644–653, 2014.
[2] M. Aach, O. Cruciger, M. Sczesny-Kaiser, O. Höffken, R. C. Meindl,
M. Tegenthoff, P. Schwenkreis, Y. Sankai, and T. A. Schildhauer,
―Voluntary driven exoskeleton as a new tool for rehabilitation in chronic
spinal cord injury: a pilot study,‖ The Spine Journal, vol. 14, no. 12, pp.
2847–2853, 2014.
[3] N. Akimichi, K. Eguchi, and K. Suzuki, ―Myoelectric controlled
prosthetic hand with continuous force-feedback mechanism,‖ in 2013
IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics.
IEEE, 2013, pp. 3354–3359.
[4] H. Satoh, T. Kawabata, and Y. Sankai, ―Bathing care assistance with
robot suit hal,‖ in Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), 2009 IEEE
International Conference on. IEEE, 2009, pp. 498–503.
[5] T. Kawabata, H. Satoh, and Y. Sankai, ―Working posture control of
robot suit hal for reducing structural stress,‖ in Robotics and
Fig. 8. Simple support torques Biomimetics (ROBIO), 2009 IEEE International Conference on. IEEE,
2009, pp. 2013–2018.
[6] J. L. Pons et al., ―Wearable robots: biomechatronic exoskeletons,‖ 2008.
[7] G. Colombo, M. Joerg, R. Schreier, and V. Dietz, ―Treadmill training of
paraplegic patients using a robotic orthosis,‖ Journal of rehabilitation
research and development, vol. 37, no. 6, p. 693, 2000.
[8] K. Suzuki, G. Mito, H. Kawamoto, Y. Hasegawa, and Y. Sankai,
―Intention-based walking support for paraplegia patients with robot suit
hal,‖ Advanced Robotics, vol. 21, no. 12, pp. 1441–1469, 2007.
[9] A. Esquenazi, M. Talaty, A. Packel, and M. Saulino, ―The rewalk
powered exoskeleton to restore ambulatory function to individuals with
thoracic-level motor-complete spinal cord injury,‖ American journal of
physical medicine & rehabilitation, vol. 91, no. 11, pp. 911–921, 2012.
[10] Y. Hayashi and K. Kiguchi, ―Stairs-ascending/descending assist for a
lower-limb power-assist robot considering zmp,‖ in 2011 IEEE/RSJ
International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. IEEE,
2011, pp. 1755–1760.
[11] Y. Sankai, ―Hal: Hybrid assistive limb based on cybernics,‖ in Robotics
Research. Springer, 2010, pp. 25–34.
[12] J. Sánchez, J. Prat, J. V. Hoyos, E. Viosca, C. Soler, M. Comn,
R. Lafuente, A. Cortés, and P. Vera, ―Biomecánica de la marcha humana
normal y patológica,‖ Instituto de biomecánica de Valencia, vol. 253,
Fig. 9. Double support torques 1999.
[13] M. Nordin, V. H. Frankel, and K. Forssén, Biomecánica básica del
sistema musculoesquelético. McGraw-Hill. Interamericana, 2004.
[14] Á. Árnadóttir, I. H. Kjartansdóttir, and S. K. Magnúsdóttir, ―Lower limb
muscle activity. electromyographic measurements of walking in high-
heeled shoes compared to walking in trainers,‖ 2011.
[15] C. Sanz, ―Cinesiologá de la marcha humana normal,‖ Links, pp. 1–14,
2006.
[16] L. P. M. Ccopa, D. A. V. Maldonado, E. C. Perca, A. A. Baltazar,
R. J. D. Villanueva, and M. D. A. Caro, ―A simple biomechanical
analysis and rotary motor design of a lower-limb exoskeleton for sit-to-
stand movement,‖ in Proceedings of the international Convention on
Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology. Singapore
Therapeutic, Assistive & Rehabilitative Technologies (START) Centre,
2015, p. 14.
[17] V. Zatsiorsky, V. Seluyanov, and L. Chugunova, ―In vivo body segment
inertial parameters determination using a gamma-scanner method,‖
Biomechanics of human movement: Applications in rehabilitation,
sports and ergonomics, pp. 186–202, 1990.
[18] J. T. McConville, C. E. Clauser, T. D. Churchill, J. Cuzzi, and I. Kaleps,
―Anthropometric relationships of body and body segment moments of
inertia,‖ DTIC Document, Tech. Rep., 1980.
[19] W. H. Ho, T.-Y. Shiang, C. C. Lee, and S. Y. Cheng, ―Body segment
parameters of young chinese men determined with magnetic resonance
imaging,‖ Medicine and science in sports and exercise, vol. 45, no. 9,
pp. 1759–1766, 2013.
[20] P. De Leva, ―Adjustments to zatsiorsky-seluyanov’s segment inertia
parameters,‖ Journal of biomechanics, vol. 29, no. 9, pp. 1223–1230,
1996.
[21] A. A. Shabana, Dynamics of multibody systems. Cambridge university
press, 2013.
[22] ——, Computational dynamics. John Wiley & Sons, 2009.
[23] Y. K. Yiu, H. Cheng, Z. Xiong, G. Liu, and Z. Li, ―On the dynamics of
parallel manipulators,‖ in Robotics and Automation, 2001. Proceedings
2001 ICRA. IEEE International Conference on, vol. 4. IEEE, 2001, pp.
3766–3771.