A Large Stroke Load-Carrying Member
Towards the Design of a Load-Carrying Exoskeleton
K.K.H. Lam (TU Delft - Mechanical Engineering)
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
The company Intespring is currently developing a load-carrying exoskeleton for military personnel in order to reduce the impact of the ever increasing backpack load on their body: the Exobuddy. The current mechanical design gives rise to problems, i.e. the exoskeleton occupies a large space and applies torques on the legs of the user during operation, rendering it unsuitable for use in the field. This research is comprised of the redesign of the mechanical structure, where the functionality of the current exoskeleton is maintained, while eliminating the mentioned problems. The chosen solution, based on Storable Tubular Extendible Members (STEMs), is further developed and dimensioned according to a set of requirements. Finally a prototype is built to validate the design. It is shown that the proposed design is capable of carrying loads matching backpack loads of military personnel. Additionally, it is shown that the anisotropic material properties of Fibre Reinforced Composites can be exploited in such a way that a compact mechanism can be obtained.