A NEW GRAVITY COMPENSATION SYSTEM COMPOSED OF PASSIVE MECHANICAL ELEMENTS FOR SAFE WEARABLE REHABILITATION SYSTEM

This paper proposed a new gravity compensation system which is suitable for the lower extremity rehabilitation therapy. The proposed system can compensate the gravitational moments exerting on the leg joints perfectly using the passive mechanical elements. In contrast with the previous systems, the proposed gravity compensation mechanisms are wholly embedded in the link body, so that the system is safer and well-suited to the wearable equipment. The feasibility of the gravity proposed mechanisms is confirmed through the experiments using an actual equipment. The effectiveness of the system as a lower extremity rehabilitation equipment is examined through computer simulations for the bending and stretching exercises.