Deployment of a high-speed communication network to enable real-time control of a lower limb robotic exoskeleton

Abstract

This paper presents a practical approach to deploying a real-time communication network applied to a hierarchical control architecture of a lower limb robotic exoskeleton. Previous experimental results of a communication network using Controller Area Network (CAN) protocol, which uses Service Data Objects (SDO) within frames of the CAN protocol, showed some disadvantages such as non-constant sampling time and data loss. These issues are completely solved by switching SDO objects to Process Data Objects (PDO) within the CAN protocol’s frame and using a non-concurrent programming methodology for deploying the control system. Experimental results show high accuracy in the repetitiveness of the sampling time, data transmission, and high precision of open-kinematics position control of the lower limb exoskeleton prototype.