Ankle Exoskeleton

• Luke Hutchinson
• Michael Maye
• Peter Moon
• Luis Rodriguez

Advisor: Dr. Myunghee Kim

Sponsor: UIC Rehabilitation Robotics Lab

The objective of this design project was to design an improved ankle exoskeleton relative to the currently utilized Caplex EXO-001 product in the UIC Rehabilitation Robotics Laboratory. Humotech® uses a variety of products to assist patients with ankle, hip, and prosthetic rehabilitation. Maximizing the variety of assistance that these exoskeletons can achieve is the goal of the project.

Tasked with the improvement of the exoskeleton, a prototype for a new exoskeleton product was designed that moves in 2 degrees of freedom, is adjustable to men’s shoe sizes 6 to 12, weighs 50% less than the Caplex EXO-001, and operates using two Bowden cables from Humotech® actuators. The design was made with an encoder to measure ankle displacement placed on the hinge joint on each side of the exoskeleton. To mitigate the issues that have arisen from previous attempts at making ankle exoskeletons, the shoes used in the device must be cut so the exoskeleton could be flush with the sole of the shoe. Rubber stoppers are put beneath the aluminum supports to lessen the metal vibration felt when walking. Due to the need to cut the shoe, the original design criteria asked for in the initial stages of the design process could not be met. The design created is an adjustable ankle exoskeleton, not a universal one. The shoe costs also balloon the prototyping costs to the point that only one shoe can be bought and cut within budget. The prototype made through the design process is a budget solution to many of the problems introduced by the currently utilized ankle exoskeleton.

See supporting documentation in the team’s Box drive.