COMPOSITE SPRING CAPABLE OF SELF-ENERGY HARVESTING BASED ON TRIBOELECTRICITY FOR EXO-ROBOTS

Abstract

Exoskeleton robots, which are wearable robots that support human movement, have been developed to improve the performance of the human body. In this study, a self-energy harvesting composite structure was fabricated and applied to a lower limb exoskeleton robot as an ankle spring. The sandwich-type self-energy harvesting composite structure is composed of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy conductive skin and aluminum & polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) triboelectric core. The two triboelectric cores contact each other as the composite spring deforms by the external load, which drives the flow of electrons. Output voltages of the self-energy harvesting structure according to various frequencies were analyzed using a vibration shaker. Furthermore, self-energy harvesting composite springs were fabricated and mounted on the lower limb exoskeleton robot as ankle springs. Based on the running tests, it was confirmed that the self-energy harvesting composite springs of the lower limb exoskeleton robot could successfully harvest the electrical energy while storing and releasing elastic energy for assisting human movement.