CN105476822A - Myoelectricity-controlled exoskeleton assistant robot - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a myoelectrically controlled exoskeleton walking aid robot, which comprises an air source, a left leg, a right leg, a waist fixing device and a control device; the upper ends of the left leg and the right leg are respectively fixed on the waist fixing device, And symmetrically arranged on both sides of the waist fixing device; the control device is fixed on the waist fixing device. The robot collects the surface electromyographic signals of the legs, analyzes the wearer's exercise needs, controls the pneumatic muscles to simulate human muscle activities, and assists the wearer to exercise on the basis of fully understanding the wearer's exercise intention, avoiding discomfort or even injury caused by forced exercise . Light weight, high energy conversion rate, and good flexibility are used as the actuator, and the pneumatic muscles are directly installed between the joints of the human body to provide auxiliary power for the wearer. The structure is simple, safe and compliant, and conforms to the physiological characteristics of the human body. Comfort is significantly improved.

Description

A Myoelectrically Controlled Exoskeleton Walking Robot

technical field

The invention relates to a wearable exoskeleton walking-assisting robot technology, in particular to an exoskeleton walking-assisting robot controlled by myoelectricity, which can assist the stretching and contracting of human lower limb muscles, and help the elderly or those with walking disabilities recover lower limb motor functions.

Background technique

With the increasing of the aging problem in modern society, the health problems of the elderly have been widely concerned by the whole society, among which the inflexibility of legs and feet is an important issue affecting the life of the elderly. Exoskeleton walking-assisting robots can provide external assistance for the elderly or those with walking disabilities and help them recover a certain degree of exercise ability, which is of great significance for improving the quality of life of the elderly and reducing the burden on the family and society.

Most of the current exoskeleton walking-assisted robots are fixed on the outside of the legs. The exoskeleton wearer (referred to as the wearer) passively follows the movement of the exoskeleton. There may be a certain gap between the trajectory of the exoskeleton robot and the expected trajectory of the wearer. For example, Chinese patent application 201410827881.4 discloses a human lower extremity exoskeleton walking rehabilitation robot. This invention uses a servo motor to provide power, and uses a connecting rod device to drive the leg movement to help the wearer walk and perform rehabilitation training. The driving structure adopted in this invention is relatively hard, and human body wearing is likely to cause incompatibility between the human body and the exoskeleton walking aid robot, causing discomfort and even additional injury to the wearer.

In addition, the current common motion control method of exoskeleton walking-assisted robots is based on sensor information such as plantar pressure, joint angle and acceleration. For example, Chinese patent 201310034245.1 discloses a wearable lower extremity exoskeleton walking aid robot. This invention collects and processes plantar pressure and joint angle information to generate corresponding motion signals to control the exoskeleton to simulate human motion, helping the wearer to walk and perform rehabilitation training. This method lacks sufficient attention to the wearer's own feelings, ignores the wearer's own actual needs, and easily causes the wearer to feel uncomfortable.

Contents of the invention

Aiming at the deficiencies of the prior art, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a myoelectrically controlled exoskeleton walking aid robot. The walker robot collects the surface electromyographic signals of the legs, analyzes the wearer's exercise needs, controls the pneumatic muscles to simulate human muscle activities, and assists the wearer to exercise on the basis of fully understanding the wearer's exercise intention, avoiding the discomfort caused by forced exercise even hurt. Light weight, high energy conversion rate, and good flexibility are used as the actuator, and the pneumatic muscles are directly installed between the joints of the human body to provide auxiliary power for the wearer. The structure is simple, safe and compliant, and conforms to the physiological characteristics of the human body. Significantly improved comfort.

The technical solution of the present invention to solve the technical problem is to provide a myoelectrically controlled exoskeleton walking aid robot, which is characterized in that the robot includes an air source, a left leg, a right leg, a waist fixing device and a control device; The upper ends of the left leg and the right leg are respectively fixed on the waist fixing device, and are arranged symmetrically on both sides of the waist fixing device; the control device is fixed on the waist fixing device;

The structures of the left leg and the right leg are exactly the same; the left leg and the right leg both include a thigh booster system, a calf booster system, an ankle joint fixation device and a knee joint fixation device; the upper end of the thigh booster system is fixed on the waist device, the lower end of which is fixed to the knee joint fixation device; the upper end of the calf assist system is fixed to the knee joint fixation device, and the lower end is fixed to the ankle joint fixation device;

The thigh assisting system includes a thigh immobilization device, a thigh pneumatic actuator module, a thigh electromyographic signal sensor module, and a thigh gyroscope module; the thigh pneumatic actuator module includes at least three thigh pneumatic muscles, one end of which is fixed on the thigh immobilizer, The other end is respectively fixed on the knee joint fixing device or the waist fixing device, and the thigh pneumatic muscle is connected to the air source through a hose, and is located above the main muscle of the human thigh when in use; the thigh myoelectric signal sensor module includes at least three thigh myoelectric signals. Signal sensor, when in use, the thigh myoelectric signal sensor is fixed on the corresponding human muscle surface of the thigh pneumatic muscle; when the thigh gyro module is in use, it is fixed between the human knee joint and the hip joint, at the middle position of the front side of the human thigh; the thigh Pneumatic muscles have the same number of thigh EMG sensors;

The calf assisting system includes a calf pneumatic actuator module, a calf electromyographic signal sensor module, and a calf gyroscope module; the calf pneumatic actuator module includes at least two calf pneumatic muscles, one end of which is fixed on the knee joint fixture, and the other end is fixed On the ankle joint fixation device, the calf pneumatic muscle is connected to the air source through a hose, and is located above the main muscles of the human calf when in use; the calf myoelectric signal sensor module includes at least two calf myoelectric signal sensors. The signal sensor is fixed on the surface of the human muscle corresponding to the calf pneumatic muscle; the calf gyroscope module is fixed between the knee joint and the ankle joint of the human body, and at the middle of the front side of the human calf; the calf pneumatic muscle and the calf electromyographic signal sensor the same number of

When in use, the waist fixing device, the ankle joint fixing device, the knee joint fixing device and the thigh fixing device are sequentially located at the waist, ankle joint, knee joint and thigh root of the human body;

The control device is respectively connected with the thigh myoelectric signal sensor module, the calf myoelectric signal sensor module, the thigh gyroscope module, the calf gyroscope module, the thigh pneumatic actuator module, the calf pneumatic actuator module and the air source.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the beneficial effects of:

1. Utilize the surface electromyographic signals of the legs to identify the movement intention of the human body, control the pneumatic muscles to simulate the human muscle activity, and increase the contraction force of the corresponding muscles on the basis of the normal movement of the human body, thereby helping the wearer to improve the athletic ability, mainly the wearer, and the external The skeletal walking aid robot is used as a supplement, which effectively avoids the wearer's discomfort caused by the inconsistency of the human-machine movement trajectory.

2. The pneumatic muscles are attached to the outside of the real muscles of the legs, not the joints or the outside of the legs, which is closer to the normal movement of the lower limbs of the human body, and long-term use will not cause additional burden and damage to the joints.

3. Pay attention to the wearer's feeling, and improve the wearing comfort of the exoskeleton through the feedback of the human body through the contact force; through the comparison of the knee joint angle feedback and the recognition result of the electromyographic signal, the air intake of the pneumatic muscle is adjusted in time, and the assisting effect is significantly improved.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is the schematic diagram of the front view structure of embodiment 1 of the exoskeleton walking aid robot controlled by myoelectricity of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is the rear view structure schematic diagram of embodiment 1-3 of the exoskeleton walking aid robot controlled by myoelectricity of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a right-view structure schematic diagram of embodiment 1-3 of the exoskeleton walking aid robot controlled by myoelectricity of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is the schematic diagram of the front view structure of embodiment 2 of the exoskeleton walking-aiding robot controlled by myoelectricity of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the front view of Embodiment 3 of the exoskeleton walking aid robot controlled by myoelectricity of the present invention;

detailed description

The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, but not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by persons of ordinary skill in the art without making creative efforts belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

The present invention provides a myoelectrically controlled exoskeleton walking aid robot (see Fig. 1-5, referred to as robot), which is characterized in that the robot includes an air source, a left leg, a right leg, a waist fixing device 1 and a control device 3 The upper ends of the left leg and the right leg are respectively fixed on the waist fixing device 1, and are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the waist fixing device 1; the control device 3 is fixed on the waist fixing device 1; the gas source and the left leg Connected to the pneumatic muscles of the right leg through a hose;

The structures of the left leg and the right leg are exactly the same; the left leg and the right leg both include a thigh booster system 4, a calf booster system 5, an ankle joint fixation device 6 and a knee joint fixation device 7; the thigh booster system 4 The upper end is fixed to the waist fixing device 1, and the lower end is fixed to the knee joint fixing device 7; the upper end of the calf assist system 5 is fixed to the knee joint fixing device 7, and the lower end is fixed to the ankle joint fixing device 6;

The thigh assisting system 4 includes a thigh immobilization device 2, a thigh pneumatic actuator module 41, a thigh electromyographic signal sensor module 42, and a thigh gyroscope module 43; the thigh pneumatic actuator module 41 includes at least three thigh pneumatic muscles, one end of which is fixed On the thigh fixing device 2, the other end is respectively fixed on the knee joint fixing device 7 or the waist fixing device 1. When in use, it is located above the main muscles of the human thigh. The diameter increases and the length shortens to form a smooth elastic movement, which simulates human muscle activity, helps the lower limb joints to extend or contract, and provides walking assistance for the wearer; the thigh myoelectric signal sensor module 42 includes at least three thigh myoelectric signals. Signal sensor, when in use, the thigh electromyographic signal sensor is fixed on the surface of the human muscle corresponding to the thigh pneumatic muscle to monitor the changes in the surface electromyographic signals of the muscles in real time, and feed back the changes in the amplitude of the surface electromyographic signals of each muscle to the control device 3 The thigh gyroscope module 43 is fixed between the human knee joint and the hip joint, the middle position of the front side of the human thigh during use, and is used to measure the angle between the human thigh and the vertical direction, and the control device 3 measures by comparing the thigh gyroscope module 43 Result and expected angle calculation, carry out compensating control; The quantity of described thigh pneumatic muscle and thigh myoelectric signal sensor is identical;

The calf assisting system 5 includes a calf pneumatic actuator module 51, a calf electromyographic signal sensor module 52, and a calf gyroscope module 53; the calf pneumatic actuator module 51 includes at least two calf pneumatic muscles, one end of which is fixed to the knee joint fixture 7, and the other end is fixed on the ankle joint fixing device 6, which is located above the main muscles of the human calf when in use. When the interior of the calf pneumatic muscle is filled with air, the diameter of the calf pneumatic muscle increases and the length shortens, simulating the activity of human muscles, providing the wearer with Walking assistance; the calf myoelectric signal sensor module 52 includes at least two calf myoelectric signal sensors, and the calf myoelectric signal sensor is fixed on the corresponding human muscle surface of the calf pneumatic muscle to monitor the surface myoelectric signal of the muscle in real time Change; the calf gyroscope module 53 is fixed between the knee joint and the ankle joint of the human body, at the middle position of the front side of the human calf, and is used to measure the angle between the human calf and the vertical direction; The number of sensors is the same;

During use, the waist fixation device 1, the ankle joint fixation device 6, the knee joint fixation device 7 and the thigh fixation device 2 are sequentially located at the waist, ankle joint, knee joint and thigh root of the human body for fixing pneumatic muscles.

The thigh fixing device 2 is made of aluminum alloy, and is fixed by using the principle of mutual balance of three nodes.

The control device 3 is respectively connected with the thigh myoelectric signal sensor module 42, the calf myoelectric signal sensor module 52, the thigh gyroscope module 43, the calf gyroscope module 53, the thigh pneumatic actuator module 41, the calf pneumatic actuator module 51 and the air source , the control device 3 is used to receive and process the signals of the thigh myoelectric signal sensor module 42, the calf myoelectric signal sensor module 52, the thigh gyroscope module 43, and the calf gyroscope module 53, by analyzing and synthesizing the collected information, the The thigh pneumatic actuator module 41, the calf pneumatic actuator module 51 and the air source issue control commands to drive the robot to move and provide power for the wearer.

Each thigh pneumatic muscle of the thigh pneumatic actuator module 41 is configured with a thigh high-speed switching valve 411 installed at the air intake end of the thigh pneumatic muscle; each calf pneumatic muscle of the calf pneumatic actuator module 51 is configured with a The calf high-speed on-off valve 511 is installed at the air intake end of the calf aerodynamic muscle; by controlling the on-off valve, the amount of air flowing into the corresponding aerodynamic muscle is changed, thereby controlling the expansion and contraction of the aerodynamic muscle.

Preferably, the exoskeleton walker robot of the present invention is fixed on the surface muscles of the lower limbs of the human body. During the assisting process, the pneumatic muscles are inflated and the diameter increases. If the pneumatic muscles expand too much, it may cause compression on the lower muscles and make the wearer feel uncomfortable. Comfortable and even painful. Therefore, the contact force sensor module 44 is installed between the pneumatic muscle and the muscle that may appear in the compression phenomenon, and the contact force sensor module 44 is electrically connected with the control device 3 for detecting the force between the calf pneumatic muscle or the thigh pneumatic muscle and the surface of the lower limb of the human body. Contact force to adjust the power assist size.

Specific embodiments of the exoskeleton walking aid robot of the present invention are given below.

Example 1

In this embodiment (referring to Fig. 1-3) thigh pneumatic actuator module 41 is provided with thigh No. 1 pneumatic muscle, thigh No. 2 pneumatic muscle and thigh No. 3 pneumatic muscle; said thigh No. 1 pneumatic muscle is located at the fascia lata of thigh On the muscles, the No. 2 pneumatic muscle of the thigh is located on the rectus femoris of the thigh, and the No. 3 pneumatic muscle of the thigh is located on the biceps femoris of the thigh; The electrical signal sensor and the No. 3 thigh myoelectric signal sensor are respectively fixed on the surface of the tensor fascia lata, rectus femoris and biceps femoris in the embodiment, in order to monitor the surface myoelectric signal changes of the thigh muscles in real time.

In the embodiment, the pneumatic actuator module 51 of the calf is provided with the No. 1 pneumatic muscle of the calf and the No. 2 pneumatic muscle of the calf, the No. 1 pneumatic muscle of the calf is located on the tibialis anterior muscle of the calf, and the No. 2 pneumatic muscle of the calf is located on the gastrocnemius of the calf On; calf myoelectric signal sensor module 52 includes calf No. 1 electromyographic signal sensor and calf No. 2 electromyographic signal sensor, respectively fixed on the surface of tibialis anterior muscle and gastrocnemius muscle in the embodiment, in order to monitor the surface electromyographic signal of calf muscle in real time Variety.

Example 2

In this embodiment (see Figures 2-4), the thigh pneumatic actuator module 41 is provided with the No. 1 thigh pneumatic muscle, the No. 2 thigh pneumatic muscle, the No. 3 thigh pneumatic muscle, and the No. 4 thigh pneumatic muscle. Pneumatic muscle is located above the tensor fascia lata of the thigh, Pneumatic muscle No. 2 of the thigh is located above the rectus femoris of the thigh, Pneumatic muscle No. 3 of the thigh is located above the biceps femoris of the thigh, and Pneumatic muscle No. 4 of the thigh is located over the vastus lateralis of the thigh Above; the thigh myoelectric signal sensor module 42 includes the No. 1 myoelectric signal sensor of the thigh, the No. 2 myoelectric signal sensor of the thigh, the No. 3 myoelectric signal sensor of the thigh and the No. 4 thigh myoelectric signal sensor, which are respectively fixed on the broad tendons in the embodiment. The surface of tensor membrane, rectus femoris, biceps femoris and vastus lateralis is used to monitor the changes of surface electromyographic signals of thigh muscles in real time.

In the embodiment, the pneumatic actuator module 51 of the calf is provided with the No. 1 pneumatic muscle of the calf and the No. 2 pneumatic muscle of the calf, the No. 1 pneumatic muscle of the calf is located on the tibialis anterior muscle of the calf, and the No. 2 pneumatic muscle of the calf is located on the gastrocnemius of the calf On; calf myoelectric signal sensor module 52 includes calf No. 1 electromyographic signal sensor and calf No. 2 electromyographic signal sensor, respectively fixed on the surface of tibialis anterior muscle and gastrocnemius muscle in the embodiment, in order to monitor the surface electromyographic signal of calf muscle in real time Variety.

The operating principle and work flow of embodiment 1 and 2 are:

(1) The wearer puts on the exoskeleton robot and activates the device;

(2) thigh myoelectric signal sensor module 42 and calf myoelectric signal sensor module 52 work, collect the surface myoelectric signal of each main muscle of lower limbs in real time, then transmit to control device 3;

(3) The control device 3 analyzes the received surface electromyographic signal data, and determines whether to start the thigh pneumatic actuator module 41 and the calf pneumatic actuator module 51;

(4) If not started, then repeat steps (2) and (3);

(5) If it needs to be started, the control device 3 sends an instruction to the thigh pneumatic actuator module 41, the calf pneumatic actuator module 51 and the air source, and starts to inflate the pneumatic muscles;

(6) Calculating the required torque according to the surface electromyographic signal, reading the information of the thigh gyroscope module 43 and the calf gyroscope module 53, calculating the joint angle of the thigh and the calf, combining the torque and the joint angle, and controlling the thigh pneumatic actuator module 41 The valve opening of the thigh high-speed switch valve 411 and the calf high-speed switch valve 511 of the calf pneumatic actuator module 51, thereby controlling the movement of the exoskeleton walker robot;

(7) After the thigh high-speed switching valve 411 of the thigh pneumatic actuator module 41 and the calf high-speed switching valve 511 of the calf pneumatic actuator module 51 perform actions, jump to step (2) and work in a loop until the exoskeleton walker robot stops working.

Example 3

In an embodiment, the thigh assisting system 4 also includes a contact force sensor module 44 (see FIGS. 2, 3, and 5), which is fixed on the surface of the rectus femoris muscle and is positioned at the contact position between the thigh No. 1 pneumatic muscle and the thigh skin for real-time Monitor the wearing feeling of the body and prevent the excessive expansion of the pneumatic muscles from causing discomfort to the wearer's thigh muscles. Others are the same as embodiment 2.

The operating principle and work flow of embodiment 3 are:

(1) The wearer puts on the exoskeleton robot and activates the device;

(2) thigh myoelectric signal sensor module 42 and calf myoelectric signal sensor module 52 work, collect the surface myoelectric signal of each main muscle of lower limbs in real time, then transmit to control device 3;

(3) The control device 3 analyzes the received surface electromyographic signal data, and determines whether to start the thigh pneumatic actuator module 41 and the calf pneumatic actuator module 51;

(4) If not started, then repeat steps (2) and (3);

(5) If it needs to be started, the control device 3 sends an instruction to the thigh pneumatic actuator module 41, the calf pneumatic actuator module 51 and the air source, and starts to inflate the pneumatic muscles;

(6) According to the surface electromyography signal to calculate the required torque, the control device 3 converts the torque value into a control command to control the valve opening of the high-speed switching valve of the thigh pneumatic actuator module 41 and the calf pneumatic actuator module 51, thereby controlling the exoskeleton Walking robot movement;

(7) After the thigh high-speed switch valve 411 of the thigh pneumatic actuator module 41 and the calf high-speed switch valve 511 of the calf pneumatic actuator module 51 perform actions, read the information of the thigh gyro module 43 and the calf gyro module 53, and calculate the thigh and calf joint angle; read the contact force sensor module 44 to detect the contact force between the pneumatic muscle and the muscle surface of the lower limbs; the control device 3 uses the joint angle and contact force data for comprehensive analysis, and corrects the high speed of the thigh pneumatic actuator module 41 through feedback control The valve opening of the switching valve 411 and the high-speed switching valve 511 of the calf pneumatic actuator module 51 improves the wearer's comfort and boosting effect.

(8) After the thigh high-speed switch valve 411 of the thigh pneumatic actuator module 41 and the calf high-speed switch valve 511 of the calf pneumatic actuator module 51 execute the correction command, jump to step (2) and work in a loop until the exoskeleton walker robot stops working .

What is not mentioned in the present invention is applicable to the prior art.

Claims (5)

1. an ectoskeleton assistant robot for myoelectricity control, is characterized in that described robot comprises source of the gas, left lower limb, right lower limb, waist fixture and control device; The upper end of described left lower limb and right lower limb is separately fixed in waist fixture, and is symmetricly set on waist fixture both sides; Described control device is fixed in waist fixture;

Described left lower limb is identical with the structure of right lower limb; Described left lower limb and right lower limb include thigh force aid system, shank force aid system, ankle joint fixture and knee joint fixture; Waist fixture is fixed in the upper end of described thigh force aid system, and knee joint fixture is fixed in lower end; Knee joint fixture is fixed in the upper end of described shank force aid system, and ankle joint fixture is fixed in lower end;

Described thigh force aid system comprises thigh holding device, the pneumatic execution module of thigh, thigh electromyographic signal sensor assembly and thigh gyro module; The pneumatic execution module of described thigh comprises at least three thigh pneumatic muscles, its one end is fixed on thigh holding device, the other end is individually fixed in knee joint fixture or waist fixture, thigh pneumatic muscles is connected with source of the gas by flexible pipe, is positioned at above human thigh's major muscles during use; Described thigh electromyographic signal sensor assembly comprises at least three thigh electromyographic signal sensors, and during use, thigh electromyographic signal sensor is fixed on human muscle surface corresponding to thigh pneumatic muscles; Described thigh gyro module is fixed on centre position between human body knee joint and hip joint, on front side of human thigh when using; Described thigh pneumatic muscles is identical with the quantity of thigh electromyographic signal sensor;

Described shank force aid system comprises the pneumatic execution module of shank, muscles of leg electric signal sensor module and shank gyro module; The pneumatic execution module of described shank comprises at least two shank pneumatic muscles, its one end is fixed in knee joint fixture, the other end is fixed in ankle joint fixture, and shank pneumatic muscles is connected with source of the gas by flexible pipe, is positioned at above human calf's major muscles during use; Described muscles of leg electric signal sensor module comprises at least two muscles of leg electric signal sensors, and during use, muscles of leg electric signal sensor is fixed on human muscle surface corresponding to shank pneumatic muscles; Described shank gyro module is fixed on centre position between human body knee joint and ankle joint, on front side of human calf when using; Described shank pneumatic muscles is identical with the quantity of muscles of leg electric signal sensor;

During use, waist fixture, ankle joint fixture, knee joint fixture and thigh holding device, be positioned at the waist of human body, ankle joint, knee joint and thigh root place successively;

Described control device is connected with thigh electromyographic signal sensor assembly, muscles of leg electric signal sensor module, thigh gyro module, shank gyro module, the pneumatic execution module of thigh, the pneumatic execution module of shank and source of the gas respectively.

2. the ectoskeleton assistant robot of myoelectricity control according to claim 1, is characterized in that described thigh holding device is aluminum alloy material.

3. the ectoskeleton assistant robot of myoelectricity control according to claim 1, is characterized in that each thigh pneumatic muscles of the pneumatic execution module of described thigh is configured with a thigh high-speed switch valve, is arranged on the inlet end of thigh pneumatic muscles.

4. the ectoskeleton assistant robot of myoelectricity control according to claim 1, is characterized in that each shank pneumatic muscles of the pneumatic execution module of described shank is configured with a shank high-speed switch valve, is arranged on the inlet end of shank pneumatic muscles.

5. the ectoskeleton assistant robot of myoelectricity control according to claim 1, is characterized in that described robot also comprises contact force sensor module; Described contact force sensor module is electrically connected with control device, at shank pneumatic muscles or between thigh pneumatic muscles and human muscle during use.