Pioneer Work on Development of Active Exoskeletons –

The First Step to the Humanoid Robotics

Keywords – Rehabilitation robotics, active exoskeleton, active prosthesis,active arms, orthosis

Figure 1: First Version of the Powered Leg at the

Mihailo Pupin Institute (1971.)

We are presenting our first attempts to realize artificial gait with the potential application with handicapped persons. Thus, the world community has been informed about our initial results in the domain of so-called active rehabilitation with the aid of robots of exoskeleton type.

a) b) c) d)

Figure 2: World's first walking active exoskeleton (a and b); active exoskeleton for rehabilitation of paraplegics and similar disabled persons (c); Active exoskeleton with electromechanical drives (d)

World's first walking active exoskeleton, pneumatically powered and partly kinematically programmed, for producing near-anthropomorphic gait is presented in Figs. 2 (a) and (b). Made in 1969 at the Mihailo Pupin Institute, it was a predecessor of more complex exoskeletal devices for severely handicapped persons. Most successful version of an active exoskeleton for rehabilitation of paraplegics and similar disabled persons, pneumatically powered and electronically programmed, realized and tested at Belgrade Orthopedic Clinic in 1972 is presented in Fig. 2(c) and 6. One specimen was delivered to the Central Institute for Traumatology and Orthopedy, Moscow in the frame of the USSR-Yugoslav inter-state scientific cooperation. From 1991 the exoskeleton belongs to the basic fund of Polytechnic Museum (Moscow) and State Museum Fund of Russian Federation (Fig. 5). It is displayed in the frame of the Museum's exposition dedicated to the development of automation and cybernetics.

Figure 3:

“Active Suit”, a modular semi-soft active orthotic device for the dystrophic. Made in 1978, electro-mechanically driven and microcomputer programmed and controlled. It was successfully used for the purpose of both rehabilitation tests and research purpose. As chance would have it, this was done within the project that was financed by the known US organizations, SRS (Social Rehab. Service) and NSF (National Science Foundation), in the frame of the intensive scientific USA-Yugoslavia cooperation. About this, there are official reports and documents, publications, movie tapes, etc. That was a real sensation and actually the first active exoskeleton in the world. Delivered to the Texas Rehabilitation Center, Houston for evaluation purposes.

Active exoskeleton with electromechanical drives, electronically programmed, built and tested in 1974 is presented in Fig. 11 (d). Served mainly to evaluate and develop electro-mechanical drives for active orthotic devices, as the "active suit" or active arm orthosis. This was the first example known in the world of active exoskeleton that used electric motors as actuators. As such, it can be considered as a predecessor of the contemporary humanoid robots driven by electric motors.

Figure 4: Successfully developed active arm orthosis for the rehabilitation of

advanced cases of dystrophy and similar diseases. Controlled by means of a joystick. Made at the Mihailo Pupin Institute in 1982.

Figure 5: Belgrade active exoskeleton exhibited in the Polytechnical Museum in Moscow as an item of the basic fund of objects.

Figure 6: Most successful version of an active exoskeleton for

rehabilitation of paraplegics developed in 1972 in Robotics Laboratory of Mihailo Pupin Institute

VIDEO 1: ORTHOSIS.mpg

VIDEO 2: EXOSKELETON.mpg

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