Workspace Analysis of a Cable Driven Leg Exoskeleton

Robotic systems are being used for gait rehabilitation of patients with neurological disorders. These are externally powered devices that can apply external forces on human limbs to assist the limb motion. Human walking pattern involves repetitive and well coordinated lower limb movements. A cable driven leg exoskeleton (CDLE) uses actuated cables to apply external torques at anatomical hip and knee joints. However, a cable can apply only pulling force on a body which limits a cable driven system functionality compared to a conventional robotic manipulator. Noting that a CDLE is proposed to assist in complex lower limb motion during walking We present workspace analysis of CDLE considering planar and spatial leg model. Human walking data were used for the analysis and to study the feasibility of CDLE architecture for human gait rehabilitation.