Performance of Ankle Exoskeletons on Irregular Terrains: Key Design Principles and Benchmarking Tests

Exoskeletons offer an advanced solution for assisting and rehabilitating physically impaired people. The mechanical design of these devices can significantly affect the kinematics of the user by restricting limb movements. In this study, we present the mechanical design of two new prototypes of ankl...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Liguori, L, Mariani, G, Taborri, J, Mileti, I, Torricelli, D, Mattioli, L, Palermo, E, Patane, F, Rossi, S
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/418573
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/418573
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Robotics
ankle exoskeleton
drop foot
mechanical design
sensors
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spelling Performance of Ankle Exoskeletons on Irregular Terrains: Key Design Principles and Benchmarking TestsLiguori, LMariani, GTaborri, JMileti, ITorricelli, DMattioli, LPalermo, EPatane, FRossi, SRoboticsankle exoskeletondrop footmechanical designsensorsExoskeletons offer an advanced solution for assisting and rehabilitating physically impaired people. The mechanical design of these devices can significantly affect the kinematics of the user by restricting limb movements. In this study, we present the mechanical design of two new prototypes of ankle exoskeleton with a different number of degrees-of-freedom (DoF) and different torque transmission method. Specifically, the first prototype (S-RANK) accommodates a single DoF in the sagittal plane, whereas the second prototype (M-RANK) extends the functionality to include ankle inversion/eversion and internal/external rotation. To assess the impact of the mechanical design of the exoskeletons on the kinematics of the lower limb, the two devices were donned on the right leg by two healthy subjects and tested on five different terrains. Human kinematics of the left and right lower limbs were collected using inertial measurement units (IMUs). The study assessed the effects on trend symmetry (TS) between the left and right limb kinematic parameters and used statistical parametric mapping (SPM) to compare joint angle curves with and without each prototype. The findings indicated that both prototypes exerted a notable influence on joint kinematics. The S-RANK resulted in a higher overall difference (OD), particularly at the ankle joint across all terrains except during downhill walking, with the largest deviations observed on softer surfaces. In contrast, M-RANK had a less pronounced effect on ankle kinematics but generally performed worse on the knee and hip joints. In these instances, it led to higher OD when walking on flat and softer surfaces. The two exoskeleton prototypes affected gait symmetry on all terrains, with S-RANK leading to a significant worsening on flat terrain. The findings indicate that while S-RANK offered stability and a less pronounced effect on proximal joint kinematics, M-RANK’s additional degrees of freedom provided superior adaptability and maintenance of natural gait patterns.Peer reviewedInstitute of Electrical and Electronics EngineersLiguori, L [0000-0002-0352-0736]Mariani, G [0009-0005-4501-2018]Taborri, J [0000-0002-8997-7605]Mileti, I [0000-0002-1064-7962]Torricelli, D [0000-0001-8767-3395]Mattioli, L [0000-0002-1257-9094]Palermo, E [0000-0002-3213-8261]Patane, F [0000-0003-0488-6139]Rossi, S [0000-0003-0006-7013]Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]202620262025info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501Publisher's versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://hdl.handle.net/10261/418573reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Ingléshttps://doi.org/10.1109/tnsre.2025.3569959Síinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/4185732026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Performance of Ankle Exoskeletons on Irregular Terrains: Key Design Principles and Benchmarking Tests
title Performance of Ankle Exoskeletons on Irregular Terrains: Key Design Principles and Benchmarking Tests
spellingShingle Performance of Ankle Exoskeletons on Irregular Terrains: Key Design Principles and Benchmarking Tests
Liguori, L
Robotics
ankle exoskeleton
drop foot
mechanical design
sensors
title_short Performance of Ankle Exoskeletons on Irregular Terrains: Key Design Principles and Benchmarking Tests
title_full Performance of Ankle Exoskeletons on Irregular Terrains: Key Design Principles and Benchmarking Tests
title_fullStr Performance of Ankle Exoskeletons on Irregular Terrains: Key Design Principles and Benchmarking Tests
title_full_unstemmed Performance of Ankle Exoskeletons on Irregular Terrains: Key Design Principles and Benchmarking Tests
title_sort Performance of Ankle Exoskeletons on Irregular Terrains: Key Design Principles and Benchmarking Tests
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Liguori, L
Mariani, G
Taborri, J
Mileti, I
Torricelli, D
Mattioli, L
Palermo, E
Patane, F
Rossi, S
author Liguori, L
author_facet Liguori, L
Mariani, G
Taborri, J
Mileti, I
Torricelli, D
Mattioli, L
Palermo, E
Patane, F
Rossi, S
author_role author
author2 Mariani, G
Taborri, J
Mileti, I
Torricelli, D
Mattioli, L
Palermo, E
Patane, F
Rossi, S
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Liguori, L [0000-0002-0352-0736]
Mariani, G [0009-0005-4501-2018]
Taborri, J [0000-0002-8997-7605]
Mileti, I [0000-0002-1064-7962]
Torricelli, D [0000-0001-8767-3395]
Mattioli, L [0000-0002-1257-9094]
Palermo, E [0000-0002-3213-8261]
Patane, F [0000-0003-0488-6139]
Rossi, S [0000-0003-0006-7013]
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Robotics
ankle exoskeleton
drop foot
mechanical design
sensors
topic Robotics
ankle exoskeleton
drop foot
mechanical design
sensors
description Exoskeletons offer an advanced solution for assisting and rehabilitating physically impaired people. The mechanical design of these devices can significantly affect the kinematics of the user by restricting limb movements. In this study, we present the mechanical design of two new prototypes of ankle exoskeleton with a different number of degrees-of-freedom (DoF) and different torque transmission method. Specifically, the first prototype (S-RANK) accommodates a single DoF in the sagittal plane, whereas the second prototype (M-RANK) extends the functionality to include ankle inversion/eversion and internal/external rotation. To assess the impact of the mechanical design of the exoskeletons on the kinematics of the lower limb, the two devices were donned on the right leg by two healthy subjects and tested on five different terrains. Human kinematics of the left and right lower limbs were collected using inertial measurement units (IMUs). The study assessed the effects on trend symmetry (TS) between the left and right limb kinematic parameters and used statistical parametric mapping (SPM) to compare joint angle curves with and without each prototype. The findings indicated that both prototypes exerted a notable influence on joint kinematics. The S-RANK resulted in a higher overall difference (OD), particularly at the ankle joint across all terrains except during downhill walking, with the largest deviations observed on softer surfaces. In contrast, M-RANK had a less pronounced effect on ankle kinematics but generally performed worse on the knee and hip joints. In these instances, it led to higher OD when walking on flat and softer surfaces. The two exoskeleton prototypes affected gait symmetry on all terrains, with S-RANK leading to a significant worsening on flat terrain. The findings indicate that while S-RANK offered stability and a less pronounced effect on proximal joint kinematics, M-RANK’s additional degrees of freedom provided superior adaptability and maintenance of natural gait patterns.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2026
2026
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
Publisher's version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/418573
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/418573
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://doi.org/10.1109/tnsre.2025.3569959
Sí
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
collection DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15.81155

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