Effect of Joint Misalignment in Upper Limb Exoskeleton Based on McKibben Muscles

One of the critical issues in the design of an exoskeleton is the matching between exoskeleton's and human's kinematic chains. The misalignments between the exoskeleton and human joints' rotation axes may reduce the support action provided by an exoskeleton or introduce shear forces on the human limbs at the attachment points of the exoskeleton. This paper aims to assess the effect of misalignments in the design of a custom industrial upper limb passive exoskeleton based on McKibben's muscles.