Conceptual Design of an Active Body Weight Support System Using a Linear Series Elastic Actuator

In this paper, a novel body weight support (BWS) system comprises of a series elastic actuator to provide unloading force against gravity, has been presented. It leads to establishing a regular gait training and enhancing safety for those who suffer either spinal cord injury or disabilities after a stroke that use this kind of rehabilitation systems to regain their abilities. Series elastic actuator compensates force fluctuations, by controlling the cable force accurately and precisely. By considering precise cable force control and power consumption, this system can outperform similar exiting systems. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the performance of the system. We showed that this mechanism could precisely control cable force and had lower power consumption than similar system. Besides, the system's dynamical equations and its state-space model are other issues addressed in this paper.