{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T14:45:04Z","timestamp":1782830704542,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,17]],"date-time":"2024-10-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1729123200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","award":["2018YFC0806802"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2018YFC0806802"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>An exoskeleton is a wearable device with human\u2013machine interaction characteristics. An ideal exoskeleton should have kinematic and kinetic characteristics similar to those of the wearer. Most traditional exoskeletons are driven by rigid actuators based on joint torque or position control algorithms. In order to achieve better human\u2013robot interaction, flexible actuators have been introduced into exoskeletons. However, exoskeletons with fixed stiffness cannot adapt to changing stiffness requirements during assistance. In order to achieve collaborative control of stiffness and torque, a bionic variable stiffness hip joint exoskeleton (BVS-HJE) is designed in this article. The exoskeleton proposed in this article is inspired by the muscles that come in agonist\u2013antagonist pairs, whose actuators are arranged in an antagonistic form on both sides of the hip joint. Compared with other exoskeletons, it has antagonistic actuators with variable stiffness mechanisms, which allow the stiffness control of the exoskeleton joint independent of force (or position) control. A BVS-HJE model was established to study its variable stiffness and static characteristics. Based on the characteristics of the BVS-HJE, a control strategy is proposed that can achieve independent adjustment of joint torque and joint stiffness. In addition, the variable stiffness mechanism can estimate the output force based on the established mathematical model through an encoder, thus eliminating the additional force sensors in the control process. Finally, the variable stiffness properties of the actuator and the controllability of joint stiffness and joint torque were verified through experiments.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s24206693","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,18]],"date-time":"2024-10-18T06:46:52Z","timestamp":1729234012000},"page":"6693","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Design and Evaluation of a Novel Variable Stiffness Hip Joint Exoskeleton"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Tao","family":"Yang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chifu","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Feng","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Computer Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bowen","family":"Tian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Business Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan 430000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102272","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mechatronics.2019.102272","article-title":"Design and control of a wearable lower-body exoskeleton for squatting and walking assistance in manual handling works","volume":"63","author":"Sado","year":"2019","journal-title":"Mechatronics"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"871","DOI":"10.1136\/oemed-2014-102346","article-title":"The effect of lifting during work on low back pain: A health impact assessment based on a meta-analysis","volume":"71","author":"Coenen","year":"2014","journal-title":"Occup. 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