Ewellix x Project MARCH
The vision of Project MARCH is to improve the quality of life for people with a spinal cord injury. We want to accomplish this by designing a better exoskeleton each year since 2015. Last few years Project MARCH focused on dynamic walking, which means that the exoskeleton is more adaptable to daily life. Now, the 8th team we want to focus on balance. The last few years crutches were used by our pilot to balance him- or herself in the exoskeleton. A balancing exoskeleton means that our pilot no longer needs crutches, giving him or her much more freedom of movement. By making it possible to resume daily activities, we are increasingly bringing the exoskeleton towards a reality of daily life.
Mechanical goals
As balance is the goal of MARCH VIII, the joints of our exoskeleton have to be improved. The joints are the mechanical structures with which we can mimic the movements of the walking pattern, so that parts of the frame will be moved in the right direction. Or exoskeleton contains two kind of joints; a linear joint located in the hip and ankle, and a rotational joint located in the hip and the knee. The linear joints of the exoskeleton MARCH VIII consist of roller screw spindles from Ewellix. This spindle is called a planetary roller spindle and gives the linear joint some key advantages to enable the exoskeleton to walk balanced. First of all, the planetary roller screw spindle (see image) allows a faster walking pattern. This is important as the human body is essentially catching itself while falling over, thus needing legs that move fast enough to do so. With these spindles we are able to reach this speed and walk balanced.
The second important advantage of the planetary spindle is the customizability of the spindle ends. Because the spindle is machined and grinded, we were able to design a custom end which allows for a compact motor connection. This gives the linear joint a more compact form which is essential as the linear joint does need to fit within the dimensions of our pilot Koen.
