Preliminary study on accuracy of step length measurement for CIE Exoskeleton

While exoskeletons for paraplegic users are used nowadays only in laboratory environments for therapy, their use in less orderly environments, or for climbing stairs is still troublesome for operators. One of the factors is the high step length variance. In this paper, potential sources of this problem are investigated. The step length estimations based on the CIE Exoskeleton internal sensors and step length measurements from the BTS motion tracking system are compared. Influence of the rotation of the exoskeleton sagittal plane in relation to environment coordinate system is evaluated. Results show that the sagittal plane of rotation has minimal influence on step length and planar exoskeleton models should suitable for motion planning.