Preliminary Work on the Design and Development of Biomimetic Upper-Body Exoskeleton for Stroke Patients

This study presents the preliminary design and development of a biomimetic upper-body exoskeleton aimed at assisting individuals with impaired arm function. The exoskeleton consists of a three degrees of freedom shoulder design controlled by two pancake motors, and a biomimetic and tendon-driven elbow joint controlled by a servo motor. To optimize weight distribution, the servo motor is housed at the back of the waist, shifting the load toward the shoulder for improved user comfort. Motion replication is achieved using inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors placed on the upper and lower arms to capture the healthy arm's movements. The sensor data is wirelessly transmitted to a Raspberry Pi, where it is processed as quaternion inputs to represent the arm's motion. The exoskeleton, controlled via CAN communication, is attached to the injured arm and actuated to mirror the movements of the healthy arm. The Raspberry Pi and motor controllers are integrated into a compact backpack worn by the user. Additionally, the MATLAB Simscape model is created to simulate the motion of the exoskeleton which provides a framework for refining future iterations of the compliant and biomimetic joints.