Saskia Baltrusch

126 Chapter 5 Figure 3: Spinal support concept (A) . The lumbar joint of the exoskeleton consists of a flexible beam, which serves at the same time as a torque source. On the beam of length L acts a force F at the top. This leads to a displacement v(x) which is a function of the position along the beam x. With increasing bending angle θ(L) the displacement at the top δ x along the x-axis becomes more pronounced; The misalignment compensation mechanism for the trunk asserts, that despite a misalignment of xLumbar and yLumbar no relative movement (∆L) or angular discrepancies persist (γ); Hip support concept (B) . The flexion extension joint is powered with a Maccepa 2.0 [34], which consists of a profile disk over which a cable is tensioned. The movement of the output joint by angle α compresses a spring and thereby stores energy. The pretension P is altered with a worm gear. The main design parameters are an offset B from the center of rotation, (here) a fixed profile radius R and the length C; The misalignment compensation of the hip asserts kinematic compatibility with additional three parallel joints and a slider.