Integration of Musculoskeletal Analysis with Engineering Design for Virtual Prototyping of Exoskeletons

Human-worn exoskeletons have the ability to both augment the physical capacity of its wearer and assist in rehabilitation therapy. Design of these devices that physically interact with the human user is challenging because of user safety and comfort requirements in addition to typical robot performance measures (e.g. quick response, backdriveable etc.). Ultimately, models of the musculoskeletal and mechanical systems need to be combined so that the performance of the integrated human-exoskeleton system can be evaluated and optimized using computer simulations. We propose a novel framework for virtual prototyping of exoskeletons by merging musculoskeletal analysis with simulation-based engineering design. The framework provides a platform in which the design and control algorithm of exoskeletons can be iteratively optimized using three distinct types of performance measures—biomechanical, morphologi -cal, and controller. We present a case study that develops a virtual prototype of an index finger exoskeleton to illustrate the application of the framework using the OpenSim environment.