Design and Development of a Slider-Crank Actuated Knee Exoskeleton with Optimized Motion Controller
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31436/iiumej.v25i2.3250Keywords:
Lower Body Exoskeleton (LBE),, Knee Joint Rehabilitation, Slider-Crank, Finite Element Analysis (FEA), PID controllerAbstract
The rising incidence of injuries and neurological disorders has highlighted the critical need for accessible and affordable rehabilitation solutions. In response to this demand, robotic exoskeletons have become a popular option for rehabilitation. However, current rehabilitation exoskeletons are generally expensive due to the high force of the actuators used, i.e., electric motors. Therefore, the availability is limited to patients who can afford to pay for physiotherapy using these robotic exoskeletons. Because of the demand for high force, the exoskeleton is heavy, impacting patient safety. In response to these challenges, the main contribution of this study is to develop a lightweight lower-body rehabilitation exoskeleton with sufficient force while maintaining a fast response time and precise motion control for rehabilitation purposes. In this research, a lower body knee joint rehabilitation exoskeleton prototype implementing a slider-crank mechanism was meticulously designed and optimized using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) via SolidWorks software. After optimising the design, the lower body exoskeleton (LBE) was fabricated and assembled. Next, the LBE system was characterized to understand its non-linear behaviour, as the LBE uses a double-acting pneumatic cylinder that is known to exhibit non-linear behaviour. To further analyse the effectiveness of LBE for rehabilitation, a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller was adopted for its simplicity in controlling the exoskeleton's angular motions. Excellent results were obtained using a PID controller at the angular displacement of 75?, with a 96.5% reduction in overshoot (OS%), a 92.9% decrease in steady-state error (Ess), a 3.2% reduction of rise time (Tr), and a minimal 0.006% reduction in settling time (Ts). These findings indicate that the LBE with the slider-crank mechanism is a promising device, particularly for knee joint rehabilitation, and that it can be applied to other rehabilitation applications that require a lightweight design and high force application.
ABSTRAK: Peningkatan kecederaan dan gangguan neurologi menyebabkan keperluan kritikal terhadap pemulihan yang senang diakses dan berpatutan. Sebagai solusi kepada keperluan ini, robot eksoskleton telah menjadi pilihan popular bagi sesi pemulihan. Namun, eksoskleton pemulihan sedia ada adalah secara amnya mahal kerana memerlukan daya penggerak yang tinggi, contohnya motor elektrik. Maka, ketersediaan menggunakan eksoskleton pemulihan ini terhad kepada pesakit yang mampu membayar fisioterapi mahal menggunakan robot eksoskleton. Selain itu, disebabkan permintaan pada daya penggerak tinggi, robot eksoskleton secara tidak langsung adalah berat dan ini akan memberi kesan kepada keselamatan pesakit. Sebagai solusi kepada permasalahan ini, sumbangan utama kajian ini adalah bagi membangunkan eksoskleton pemulihan bahagian bawah badan yang ringan dan mempunyai daya penggerak yang mencukupi, di samping mengekalkan masa tindak balas yang cepat dan kawalan pergerakan yang tepat bagi tujuan pemulihan. Penyelidikan ini membangunkan prototaip eksoskleton pemulihan sendi lutut bawah badan (LBE) yang menggunakan mekanisme engkol gelangsar dan dioptimumkan dengan teliti menggunakan Analisis Unsur Terhingga (FEA), menggunakan perisian SolidWorks. Selepas reka bentuk dioptimumkan, eksoskleton LBE telah difabrikasi dan dipasang. Seterusnya sistem LBE telah direka bagi memahami ciri-ciri tidak linear, kerana sistem LBE ini menggunakan silinder pneumatik dwitindakan, dimana pneumatik terkenal sebagai sistem tidak linear. Bagi menganalisa lebih lanjut keberkesanan LBE sebagai sistem pemulihan, kawalan Berkadaran-Kamiran-Pembeza (PID) telah digunakan bagi memudahkan kawalan sudut gerakan eksoskleton. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan, kawalan PID adalah sangat baik pada gerakan sudut maksimum, anjakan sudut 75?, di mana pengurangan 96.5% yang ketara dalam lajakan (OS%), penurunan 92.9% dalam ralat keadaan mantap (Ess), 3.2% pengurangan masa naik (Tr), dan pengurangan minimum 0.006% dalam masa penetapan (Ts). Penemuan ini menunjukkan bahawa sistem LBE dengan menggunakan mekanisme engkol gelangsar adalah peralatan yang berkesan, terutama bagi pemulihan sendi lutut, dan ia juga boleh digunakan bagi aplikasi pemulihan lain yang memerlukan reka bentuk ringan dan aplikasi daya yang tinggi.
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