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328 HANDBOOK OF ELECTRONIC ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY

15
HEI EXOSKELETON Researchers at the HEI-YNCREA School of Advanced Engineering
Studies have produced a noncommercial rehabilitation exoskeleton specifically focused
on children with multiple disabilities. The HEI exoskeleton was started as part of the
‘Motion’ project in 2013 (Wang et al., 2018). The exoskeleton is motorised, presents with 6
DOFs and uses steel wires to animate its junctions (Figs. 11-9 and 11-10).
In its first phase, the project aimed to achieve a slow-walking model for children with
intermittently straight knees, similar to humans, to avoid sudden, jerky movements, and
to minimise stress on the joints. Psychomotor therapy management in children with mul-
tiple disabilities is more difficult than for adults. Coupled with an inability to communi-
cate or express the feeling of pain or discomfort, children prove unsuitable subjects in
the development of robotic orthotic devices. Because of these safety concerns, Wang et al.
made use of the NAO humanoid robot (Fig. 11-11) as an intermediate platform to simulate
the straight-knee walking mode in a simulated environment for building and testing the
control system of the exoskeleton (Wang et al., 2016).
A neural network-based proportional–integral–derivative control system was also
explored by Zhang et al. for the HEI exoskeleton, with improved results in a simulated envi-
ronment over a traditional proportional–derivative controller (Zhang et al., 2015, 2018).

FIGURE 11-9 (A) HEI (Wang et al�, 2018) exoskeleton� (B) Joints and structure of exoskeleton�
15 HEI Lille – School of Advanced Engineering Studies, France: http://www.hei.fr/.