Design and control of a robotic lower extremity exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation

Design and control of an active knee rehabilitation orthotic system called ANdROS that was designed as a wearable and portable gait rehabilitation tool is presented. A corrective force field that reinforces a desired gait pattern is applied to the patient´s impaired leg around the knee joint via an impedance controlled exoskeleton. The impedance controller is synchronized with the patient´s walking phase which is estimated from the kinematic measurements of the healthy leg. The performance of the controller is evaluated through bench-testing.