Test-Stand Development and Performance Analysis of RoboWalk Assistive Device

Robotic devices are increasingly studied for the rehabilitation purposes of the lower limb disabilities. Wearable assistive devices such as exoskeletons have been recognized as a practical solution to increase the power and maneuverability of human beings in industries, as well as rehabilitation, elderly care, and sports exercises. RoboWalk is a lower limb assistive device that has been designed in ARAS lab at KNTU. To guarantee its proper performance, a Test-Stand is designed and manufactured with extended toolkit options. To validate the simulation results of various scenarios, is the main goal of developing this Test-Stand. Also, to examine the electronics boards and subsystems, the correct interaction between the sensors and the actuators, and investigate the performance of the main control loop, and so on, the Test-Stand is highly useful. In this paper, these various aspects of design and manufacturing of RoboWalk test stand are presented. Stress analyses in SOLIDWORKS software showed that the design of the proposed device is capable to handle the required tasks. Finally, a positioning task is implemented, which reveals the merits of the designed Test_Stand.