The MATLAB Simulation and the Linear Quadratic Regulator Torque Control of a Series Elastic Actuator for a Rehabilitation Hip Exoskeleton

Almost the half of mechanical energy of a human gait cycle is generated by a hip joint. Therefore, this paper discusses a rehabilitation hip exoskeleton, starting with the modeling, simulation and ending with controlling its hip joints. A MATLAB based simulation environment with the use of Simscape Multibody toolbox was utilized to design and control the robotic hip exoskeleton. More details of adding a series elastic actuators (SEA) to the hip joints with the mathematical model are presented. However, the linearised mathematical model of the entire exoskeleton was found in simulation software which establish the basic need of controlling hip joints. The trajectory tracking is commonly used of controlling rehabilitation exoskeleton and to ensure a safe and reliable motion tracking methods, two desired torque signals were tested and analysed with the optimal linear quadratic regulator (LQR). The experiments with two torque signals–representing the sit-to-stand (STS) and the walking activity, demonstrated good performance of the motion gait tracking based on torque signals of a healthy person, which is carried out in the simulation environment. Furthermore, some studies in a human robot interaction are also mentioned in this paper.