Abstract
In this paper, a single degree of freedom (DOF) anthropomorphic gait rehabilitation mechanism with passive branch chain is proposed and optimized. First, the dimension parameters of the mechanism are designed. Taking the normal gait trajectory as the target, 1-DOF Watt-I six-bar mechanism driven by a uniform motor is adopted as the motion executer, and its path synthesis is carried out. Then, the lightweight design of the lower limb rehabilitation mechanism is implemented. A three-dimensional design model of the six-bar linkage is established, which is imported into ANSYS Workbench for static force analysis and topology optimization. Then, a 2-DOF passive chain is designed and imposed into the mechanism for a better dynamic and kinematic performance. In the end, a prototype of the 1-DOF six-bar gait rehab device with passive chain is built, and experiments are conducted using motion capture system to obtain the trajectory. The results show that the optimized mechanism can well simulate the motion of normal human gait trajectory, which verifies the effectiveness of the mechanism and the optimization method.
