Orientation dependent stiffness optimization of wearable robotics components

Abstract:
Wearable robotic systems should be as lightweight as possible and interfere as little as possible with their user. At the same time, the components of such support system need to be provide sufficient stiffness and strength. In the current paper, these requirements are interpreted as a multi-objective design optimization problem, which is tackled using topology optimization. By using topology optimization the large design freedom provided by additive manufacturing techniques is explored. An approach is presented which translates the multi-objective optimization with concurring objectives into a single-objective optimization problem. The approach is applied to a component of a wearable wearable support system, showing that it is possible to increase stiffness in load bearing direction and at the same time reduce weight and user interference.