HAWASSA UNIVERSITY

HAWASSA INSTITUTION OF TECNOLOGY

FACULITY OF MANUFACTURING

BSC OF DEGREE IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

PROPOSAL TITLE: DESIGN OF ACTIVE LOWER BODY ROBOTIC

EXOSKELETON

SUBMITTED BY: ID No

BETHELEHEM TEREFE MeAuER\0008\10

BRUKTAWIT SHAREW MeDeER\0001\10

ELIAS G\SELASSIE MeEMR\0020\09

NAME OF ADVISOR: Dr. RAJKUMAR

[23\05\ 2022, HAWASSA, ETHIOPIA]

APPROVED BY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

NAME OF ADVISOR: Dr. RAJKUMAR

DATE:

SIGNATURE:
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

LIST OF TABLE……………………………………………..4

CHAPTER ONE

INRTODUCTION

BACKGROUND ……………………………………….5

PROBLEM STATEMENT ……………………………6

OBJECTIVE

GENERAL OBJECTIVE …………………………7

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE ………………………….7

SCOPE OF THE PROJECT …………………………..7

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT ………………..8

CHAPTER TWO

LITRATURE REVIEW …………………………………9

 LIST OF TABLES
1. TABLE 1: WORK PLAN OF THE PROJECT
LIST OF ABBRIVATIONS
DOF- Degree Of Freedom

KEY TERMS
TORSO - the trunk of the human

ABBRIVATIONS

DARPA - deference advanced research project agency.

BLEEX - Berkley's lower extremely exoskeleton.

 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND
Everything on our whole universe is evolve around a life of human being, new things are
discovered, used and to be used by human, every ecology is interrelated with human being in one
or other ways. Through human being evolution, on each and every era, materials were needed to
operate any kind of tasks, on the way human being tried to update each and every equipment as it
engaged in different kind of life path, in the early time, technologies were discovered by just
simply realizing other natural living things around, when we look back some discoveries, they
are simply direct copies of other creatures with different working mechanism, among them;

- The idea of airplane has been taken from creators that can fly on sky,

-The idea of train has been taken from snack and so on,

Human being is living into this level of technology, from the desire of simplifying life path, due
to various reasons, on the industry era the need of human assistance become very necessary. For
the complete success of Industry, human labor was crucial. But the unlimited ambition of human
on increasing product and quality leads to substitution to the drawback of human labor like
break, complain, steeling and etc. and this assistance was more likely to be copied from human
working mechanism. Through time human being started to use these assistances as a part of an
organ such as blood vein, arm and leg for disabilities, etc., these assistances are called ROBOTS.

ROBOT is automatically controlled, reprogrammable and multipurpose machine. In robotics

hand, head, heart have been tried to be copied. Robots are available in the forms of manipulator,
wheeled robots, tracked vehicle, drone etc.

The motivation of the project lies on the need to reduce the effects of disabilities, increase
mobility and self-sustenance of the disabled (paraplegic), infirm and elderly people. The
exoskeleton will need to be cost effective so that its application can venture into the
rehabilitation centers thereby making the Design of a Contact Assistive Robot for the Disabled,
Elderly, and Infirm People entire rehab process more efficient and cheaper. Above all the project
is in line with the sustainable development goals mainly goal 3 that focus on healthy lives and
promoting well-being for all at all ages. The ability to be upright and to walk about in two limbs
is a vital and basic characteristic of a human being and this skill is both a natural and important
requirement for enhancing the quality of life.
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
Challenges that is faced by disabled people are:

1. Education – education is a basic right for all humans, in a perfect world, education would
be free and available to everyone, and the reality is far from it. A large number of children
with disabilities remain out of school and thus they are deprived of basic education. They are
not able to run the race of life like the other normal kids. To solve this issue, several
education institutions have been opened which focuses on the education of these kids with
special needs, they learn the Braille System and adaptive technology helps them lead a better
life.

2. Access to healthcare – In a country of 1.3 billion people, the health care system is already
very stretched. Poor people do not have access to proper healthcare and the people with
disabilities are worse off. Often, people with intellectual disabilities are mistreated by the
health workers and this makes matters worse. This can be only solved by proper awareness
and empathy. The disabled people find the speck of good in these situations and help each
other in whatever way possible.
3. Accessibility – The world around us is not a walk in the park. We have to face several
obstacles in every step we take. This is much worse for physically disabled people. They
mostly move around in wheelchairs or use crutches. So, moving around freely is not a luxury
that they can afford. Moreover, the public places that we have, are rarely made keeping in
mind the comfort of people with disabilities. There are no ramps, or the hallways are too
narrow for them to move. Nowadays, many wheelchairs are automated, and buildings are
constructing a private residential elevator to make the movement of the disabled people a
little bit easier.
4. Feeling of being ignored – When we interact with a physically challenged person, it does
not mean that, he is also suffering from visual or hearing impairment. This thought process
often stops us from interacting and communicating with such people. These disability
barriers need to be torn down, which is only possible for more awareness.
5. Lack of employment – Employment of any citizen is based upon his education and skills
he has picked up along the way. When these people are deprived of basic education, they are
bound to fall behind other candidates for that job. The government has introduced schemes
which should guarantee jobs for disabled people.
6. Feeling of being incompetent – Disabled people need more time to do a particular work
than other normal people. The disability barriers stop him from performing basic tasks with
ease. This makes the person with disabilities that he is pulling his mates down and if filled
with sorrow and anger.
7. Teased and abused – Often people find satisfaction in putting others down. They find
superiority in bullying the weak and underprivileged. Disabled people often find themselves
at the receiving end of such violent and disgusting actions.
8.Being patronized – People with special needs often hear things like, “I know what you are
going through” or “I know this must be hard.” These kinds of words never do justice to the
problems those people face and the troubles they go through every day. A normal person
can't know exactly what that person is feeling.
 We should make our surroundings more accessible to disabled people. The homes for the
disabled should be designed in such a way that it is more comforting to them. All these
issues can be dealt with if people become more understanding and have patience when they
deal with people with special needs. Work for disabled should be made available, this will
give them financial independence and provide them with satisfaction in life. We should
make our surroundings more accessible to disabled people. The homes for the disabled
should be designed in such a way that it is more comforting to them. Also, no matter how
small the contribution is, one can always help the needy in their own little ways.

1.3 OBJECTIVE

1.3.1GENERAL OBJECTIVE
Our project mainly focuses on human-centered design solutions to develop comfortable and safe
personal mobility assistants.

1.3.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE

 Design cost effective robotic leg that can be used by society at any economical level.
 Mimics the use of legs and easy to operate.
 Design assistive robot which can be easily attached to the user and does not physically
injure the user.
 Study four basic modules of robotics: KINEMATICS, DYNAMICS, CONTROL
SCHEMES, INTELLIGENCE ISSUES
 Exoskeleton robotics Design is analyzed, optimized and compared with conventional
methods.

1.4 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

On the introduction and problem statement section we have tried to cover about robotics,
disabilities, interrelation between them and also about the difficulties that disabilities face due to
their impairment.

From the wide area of robotics and disabilities, due to various reasons our project focus more on,
leg impairment, from the classification listed above we have specified our projects on the lower
limb exoskeleton, our selection maily focus on the powered

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT

The use of this project is;
 - Simplify the hard life path of disabilities by assisting them
- It reduces the physical as well as psychological effect followed by such
disability
- Increase mobility and self-sustenance of the disabled (paraplegic), infirm
and elderly people.
Humans and animals have Skeleton protection , support ,structure , movement of their bodies

Mussels -actuating for faculties movement of their body part.

A robotic exoskeleton a mechanical stricture frame is to be worn by a human .

An exoskeleton must provide attachment for actuator and power transition and lo comfortable
users body interface and they must confront to the body shape and function .initially it is
developed or military propose

The benefit of robotic exoskeleton enhance of strength and durability of wearer and provide an
addition support and protection from a mobility issues .

A function of an exoskeleton are supporting physical disabled patient in the field of

rehabilitation .

Protection- the human operation hazardous environment such as a battle filed and nuclear power
plant

Enhancement - providing strength to the human operator by assertive environment

Sensing and data fusion -acting as the interface between human operator and human operator and
the environment also make the information received from the human operating

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

YAGN'S EXOSKELETON
 First exoskeleton concept for augmenting running and jogging.
 Patented in 1890 NICOLAS YANG.
 Bow leaf spring on the lateral side of the legs.
 Stance phase - to transfer the weight of the body to the round
 Swinging phase - to flex effortlessly

HARDEMAN EXOSKELETON
 First practical powered exoskeleton developed exoskeleton, developed by General Electric in year
1965 to 1971.
 Conducted by a group of engineers lead by Er. RALPH MOSHER with the intension to lift 680
kg.
  This task was unsuccessful but later on they have forecast to one arm exoskeleton that was able to
successfully lift 340 kg. But the weight of that arm alonn was 3 times the weight is was lifting
and hence this Hardeman was not applicable for practical use.

MIHAILO PUPIN EXOSKELETON

 It has been developed by MIOMIR VOKOBRATOVIC.
 It was basically started as kinematic walker with hydraulic actuator, in order to actuate
both hip and knees.
 Later on it has been developed as partial active exoskeleton with pneumatic actuator so
that all three joints at the legs that is hip, knees and ankles.
 Finally after the partial active exoskeleton it has been developed to a complete active
exoskeleton, so that it a can support a torso and pneumatic actuators substituted by DC
motors to have a smooth performance.
 And they have attached force sensors on the solo of foot the exoskeleton in order to tract
he given force.
 It have developed in 1972.

BLEEX

 BLEEX, which is one of the prominent exoskeleton under DARPA program of the US
government, developed in 2004.
 It has for actuated DOF meant for
 Hip fluctuation extension – 2 DOF
 Knee fluctuation extension – 1 DOF
 1 DOF - actuated at the ankle fle
 can support up to 75 kg with the speed of 0.9, and have weight of 14 KG.

CLASSIFICATION

Based on WHICH BODY PART IS ACTUATED;

 Whole body exoskeleton- it full body is actuated.

 Upper Extremity Exoskeleton- torso, neck and armature actuated
 Lower Extremity Exoskeleton - If the leg is actuated which consists hip and knee and
ankle
 The actuation can be - Hip And Knee
- Knee And Ankle
- Hip And Ankle
- Individually Each
- The Combination Of All
Based on the POWERING;

A. power exoskeleton
Generally used batteries or electric cabled in order to run the sensor and actuator.
 Classified further in to:
 Static Exoskeleton - actuators are turned on all times in order to have function of
the exoskeleton
 Dynamic Exoskeleton - The power of the actuator are not always on and it is
quit energy efficient exoskeleton.

B. PASSIVE EXOSKELETON
It does require power source for its operation and source for it operation and further classified
according to their usage. one meant for;

- Weight redistribution

- Energy capture

- Locking the user

- Shock absorber

C. PSEUDO -PASSIVE EXOSKELETON

They have batteries ,sensor , and electronic but are not meant to provide actuation. As in this
case of power exoskeleton.

D. HYBRID EXOSKELETON
They do have all the controllers and sensors of a powered exoskeleton but they use function
electrical stimulation technique of a muscle as actuators.

The function of electrical stimulation of the muscles means it uses the low electrical power
pluses in order to artificially generated moment of the limbs . That is what can be used in the
hybrid exoskeletons

Based on MOBILITY;
 Fixed .
 Supported - by moving frame or adjacent
 Mobile - allows the user to move freely around

APPLICATION
MILITARY

 For enhancements of strength ability and endurance of soldiers.

 To perform deep squats lifting heavy object. And running up to so mph in un even
terrains
 For reducing solider response time
 Protect from strain injure

HULC (HUMAN UNIVERSAL LOAD CARRIER)

 Ekso bionic developed in 2008, in the year 2009 it has been physically demonstrated by
lock head .martin in the army winter symposium
 Support 20 km range - back and front pay load max .speed 11 to 16 km/hr
 Design compact and customizable -24 suitable foe solider with 54 to 62 height
 Used as a load lifter for the army and naval dryback workers, can lift up to 91 kg.
 Powered by fuel cell and can support or 200 lb, 72 hours extended mission.

SARCOS XOS 2 SUIT

 Is the 2nd generation suit and publically demonstrated in 2010.
 Lifting weights at 17:1 which means actual weight is 17 times more than the perceived
weight and allows repeated lifting.
 Weights 95kg and has high strength steel and aluminum controllers, actuators and
sensors.
 Wearer can perform the task of 3 soliders.
 Liting is successful upto 90 KG.

POWER WALK
 Basically focused in knee exoskeleton and developed by bionic power inc.
 It has walk recharge capability exoskeleton which means you recharege while walk,
reduces the need of carrying backup battries and battery resupply in the field.
 It does the intelligent analysis to analyze when to generate high power with less effort.

MEDICAL APPLICATIONS
 To assist elderly people and restore motor abilities of stroke patients.
 ARMIN III EXOSKELETON
 CAPIO EXOSKELETON
 EKSO GT EXOSKELETON
 ARMERO SPRING ARM AND HAND EXOSKELETON

PHONIX MDICAK EXOSKELETON

  Enables stand up and walk
 Weight only 12.25 kg
 0.5 m\s speed and 4 hours walking support for single charging.
 Worn while wheel chair seating

REWALK EXOSKELETON
 Aids the SCI patients to stand upright walk, turn, climb and descend stairs.
 1st exoskeleton in US to receive FDA clearance for personal use and to be used by
patients.
 Weight 23.3 kg.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS
 In expanding worker capabilities be reliving stress and pressure in his\her neck, knees
and back.
 HYUNDAI CEX EXOSKELETON
 Have weight of 1.6kg
 Reduce use o weight and lower body muscles by 80%.
 PAEXO EXOSKELETON
 Have weight of less than 2 kg.
 And mostly applied for shoulder work
 SARCOS GUARDIAN EXOSKELETON

CIVILIAN APPLICATIONS
 Assisting humans in performing activities of daily living(ADL).
 HAL exoskeletons
 Panasonic exoskeleton
 Walking assist wearable robot by Hyundai motor group

REQUIRMENTS
 Ensure safety
 Light weight
 Affordable(marketable but not widely used)
 Must be durable(self recharging capability)
 Must replace wheel chairs
 Preferable to be used as a standard in industry
 CHAPTER TWO

2.1 LITERATUR REVIEW

2.11 EXOSKELOTON ROBOTIC LEG

Magdo Bortole the Master Thesis called “Design and Control of a Robotic Exoskeleton for
Gait Rehabilitation(2013) as a requirement to obtain the Degree in the official Master in
Robotics and Automation Date: ( September) 2013 :1-95page

Exoskeletons are becoming a very powerful tool to help therapists in the rehabilitation of patients
who have suffered from neurological conditions, in particular stroke or spinal cord injury. This
work presents a robotic exoskeleton designed to assist over ground gait training for patients with
deficits in gait coordination. The device is a bilateral exoskeleton with six degrees of freedom. It
is designed to implement different control strategies. An adaptive trajectory control has
been developed to guide the patient’s limb within a desired path, allowing deviation based on
torque of interaction between the user and the exoskeleton.
An admittance control strategy allows the robotic platform to capture the user’s
movements during assistive training and to replicate them during active training. Experimental
results show that the exoskeleton can adapt a pre-recorded
gait pattern to the gait pattern of a specific user. Future investigations will evaluate the device in
the rehabilitation of patients who have suffered from stroke.
A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of different robotic therapies will be proposed .
Magdo Bortole(2013) The developed exoskeletons nowadays have two main purposes: military
or rehabilitation devices. Military exoskeletons are intended to be used by soldiers in the
battlefield or in rescue activities. They are aimed to augment the strength and endurance of
soldiers, making possible for them to carry heavy loads, walk-ing longer distances, etc. Military
exoskeleton development has been basically promoted by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency),

Magdo Bortole(2013) analyzed that A robotic exoskeleton intended to be a powerful assistant

for over ground gait training has been developed. The device consists on a “powered suit” that is
worn by the patient. The objective is creating a tool to help clinicians in the
rehabilitation process of stroke and spinal cord injury patients.

Magdo Bortole(2013) indicate that is the possibility to walk again, in order to return to a normal life
when possible (Ditunno et al., 2006). Task oriented and highly repetitive practice is recognized as an
intervention for the restoration of the gait function (Kidwell et al., 1998). Recently, in an attempt to
improve the recovery process of the stroke, many robotic platforms have been developed (Mohammed,
S., Amrita, & Y., 2008), (Dollar, A.M., Herr, & H., 2008). Also, a great deal of work has been done to
demonstrate the effectiveness of robotic rehabilitation compared with manual therapy in patients
suffering from stroke. Robotic rehabilitation is a research field that tries to understand the
rehabilitation process and improve it by applying robotics devices. This rehabilitation process
develops therapies using robots as therapy aids devices (Krebs et al., 2004)

Magdo Bortole(2013) analysis was performed by a four-bar mechanism. a) The human knee joint
compared with b) The exoskeleton joint developed. Maximum joint angles. Hip Knee Ankle
Flexion Extension ankle. depicts the details about the adjustment of the different links. Thigh and
shank length can also be adjusted even when the patient is wearing the device. One more
advantage of the exoskeleton is that the footplates can accommodate different types of shoes.
Thus, patients do not have to remove their own shoes neither wear special ones. The size and
positions of adjustable rounded palette carriers with Velcro straps allow for customization to
individual requirements. The mechanical structure is depicted in Foam pads are used to minimize
pressure against the skin and prevent damage.

.
n the 1930s paraplegia and quadriplegia was a death sentence. These patients died
the most horrific
and inhumane deaths, with severe pressure sores, chest infections, urinary infections
and over whelm-
ing sepsis. There was no means of managing these patients at home as they would
linger and die in
hospitals. In this day and age, the challenges that disabled people suffer range from
physical, economic,
psychological, academic and cultural. The complexity of disability is that it is
associated with poverty.
Health implications of using a wheelchair include muscle atrophy, osteoporosis,
muscle spasms,
cardiovascular disease (CVD), urinary tract infections (UTI’s) and varicose veins
(Masarira, 2017).
When one sits for more than eight hours each day, the blood flows less efficiently,
and that situation can
deprive your cells of nutrients and oxygen. Compounding the problem, the muscles
can’t burn fat as
quickly. Thus, fatty acids will accumulate throughout the body, and they can interfere
with the function-
ing of the heart. Inactive muscles don’t react to insulin effectively either, which leads
the body to secrete
excessive quantities of that hormone. As a result, the likelihood of diabetes
increases. The disabled have
difficulties in accessing various facilities such as old buildings with small doorways or
corridors. They
cannot easily maneuver due to the discriminatory manner in which buildings were
built even were some
buildings have provisions for wheel chairs, disabled persons may require additional
assistance to ma-
neuver. Simple things like shopping, visiting friends or relatives become a really
difficult and complex
task very quickly. They also suffer challenges when using public transport which is
the most afford-
able transport for them. The way the vehicles are designed, are to make it difficult
for the disabled to
board the vehicles. The disabled are unlikely to be accorded equal access to
programs that empower the
general population (Moore & Fishlock, 2006). Barriers to employment for people
with disabilities are
linked to stigma, prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination Kulkhanchit, 2002).
Furthermore, physically
disabled job seekers often experience employment challenges, which are related to
natural, rural and
built environments and system’ structures (Jason, 2016). From a sociological p

perspective, people who

experience disability for the first time also have to deal with the role of family, cross-
cultural issues and
adjustments, the consequences of negative demeanour is towards people with
disabilities as a whole,
and the roles of professionals who work to assist them with adjusting. Their system
of life and living has
changed in many different ways, meaning they must endure a process of adjustment
and self-evaluation.
Current Methods of Treatment in Developed Countries (MEDCs)
The best chance for recovery of function following spinal cord injury is through
prompt treatment. Early
surgical decompression and stabilization leads to better recovery (Federica, 2018).
Aggressive physical
therapy and rehabilitation after surgery also maximizes recovery. Maintaining a
positive outlook is extremely
important for patients with spinal cord injury. The use of assistive devices allows
most people with even
severe spinal cord injuries to integrate quickly into society and stay productive.
Although exoskeleton.