Exoskeleton

Exoskeleton

Overview

Exoskeleton is a powered lower-limb exoskeleton with six actuated joints — hip flexion, hip abduction, and knee flexion per leg. Each joint is driven by a CubeMars AK-series actuator (AK70-10 / AK80-64) commanded over CAN by a Teensy 4.1 running through a custom dual-CAN power distribution board, which supplies six independent motor power outputs. The frame — waist, hip abductors, hip-to-thigh, thigh-to-knee, and knee-to-shank sections — is designed in SolidWorks; the electronics are designed in KiCad.

Features

• Six actuated joints (hip flexion, hip abduction, knee) via CubeMars AK70-10 / AK80-64 actuators
• Custom power distribution board: XT90 main input, 6× XT30 motor power outputs (one per actuator), 50A MIDI fuse, dump resistor, thermal switch input, and battery voltage sense
• Dual CAN bus (CAN A / CAN B, SN65HVD230 transceivers) for actuator communication
• Teensy 4.1 as the main controller
• Modular frame: waist (left/middle/right), hip abductors, hip-to-waist and hip-to-thigh frames, thigh-to-knee frames, knee-to-shank frames, and hip/knee step-up and step-down joint hardware

Repository layout

• SolidWorks Assembly/July 2026/July 2026 Exo Assembly/ — SolidWorks parts and the top-level assembly (Pitt Exo - Final July 2026 Assembly.SLDASM)
• pcb/ — KiCad project for the power distribution / control board (schematic, PCB layout, fabrication outputs)
• pcb/production/ — BOM, designators, placement data, IPC netlist, and Gerber/drill ZIP for fabrication
• Digikey Order, Exoskeleton-JLCPCB Assembly Order (1).xls — component and assembly ordering records

Bill of materials

The authoritative electrical BOM is pcb/production/bom.csv. In summary, the power/control board uses:

• 1 Teensy 4.1 controller
• 2 SN65HVD230 CAN transceivers (CAN A / CAN B)
• 1 XT90 power input and 6 XT30 motor power connectors
• 1 50A MIDI fuse, 1 IRFB4110 MOSFET, dump resistor output, thermal switch input, and battery sense header
• Supporting passives (bulk 680 µF caps, TVS/flyback diodes, 120 Ω CAN bus termination)

The mechanical assembly (SolidWorks) is built from 22 parts, including the waist sections, left/right hip abductors, hip-to-waist and hip-to-thigh frames, thigh-to-knee and knee-to-shank frames, hip/knee step-up and step-down joint hardware, and the AK70-10 / AK80-64 motor body and center mounts.

Pictures