machines

Article
Electrically Driven Lower Limb Exoskeleton Rehabilitation
Robot Based on Anthropomorphic Design
Moyao Gao 1 , Zhanli Wang 1, *, Zaixiang Pang 1 , Jianwei Sun 1 , Jing Li 1 , Shuang Li 1 and Hansi Zhang 2

1 School of Mechatronic Engineering, Changchun University of Technology, Changchun 130012, China;

gaomoyao@163.com (M.G.); pangzaixiang@ccut.edu.cn (Z.P.); sunjw@ccut.edu.cn (J.S.); lj5286@126.com (J.L.);
shuang_0313@163.com (S.L.)
2 Institute of Electromechanical Technology, Jilin Academy of Agricultural Machinery, Changchun 130021,
China; qifeng8409@126.com
* Correspondence: wangzl@ccut.edu.cn

Abstract: To help people with impairment of lower extremity movement regain the ability to stand
and walk, and to enhance limb function, this study proposes an anthropomorphic design of an
electrically driven, lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot. The angular range of the robot’s
motion was determined according to the characteristics of the targeted lower-limb joints; the robot
was given an active–passive anthropomorphic design with 12 degrees of freedom. The multi-degree-
of-freedom hip exoskeleton, bionic artificial knee exoskeleton and passive rigid-flexible coupling
ankle exoskeleton can assist patients in rehabilitation exercises with better wear comfort and exercise
flexibility. A kinetic model of the seven-rod lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot was built,
and data analysis of the dynamically captured motion trajectory was conducted. These provided
a theoretical basis for gait planning and the control system of the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation
robot. The results show that the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot system possesses sound





 wearing comfort and movement flexibility, and the degree of freedom of movement of the exoskeleton
Citation: Gao, M.; Wang, Z.; Pang, Z.; robot matches well with that of human movement. The robot can thus provide effective assistance to
Sun, J.; Li, J.; Li, S.; Zhang, H. patients’ standing and walking rehabilitation training.
Electrically Driven Lower Limb
Exoskeleton Rehabilitation Robot Keywords: anthropomorphism; lower-limb exoskeleton; rehabilitation robot; kinetic simulation
Based on Anthropomorphic Design. analysis; rehabilitation training experiment
Machines 2022, 10, 266. https://
doi.org/10.3390/machines10040266

Academic Editors:
Giuseppe Carbone and Dan Zhang 1. Introduction

Received: 15 March 2022

With rapid socio–economic development and the continuous improvement of peoples’
Accepted: 6 April 2022
health and living standards, the proportion of elderly people is rapidly increasing. Accord-
Published: 7 April 2022
ing to the “Report on World Population Trends” (the Report) released by the 51st session of
the United Nations Commission on Population and Development, the number of people
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
aged over 65 will exceed 1.5 billion by 2050. Social aging has gradually become a universal
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
trend. Included with the problems of aging, physical function of the elderly gradually
published maps and institutional affil-
decreases and lower extremity disease has also increased [1]. Further, there is an increasing
iations.
incidence of lower-limb neurological injuries, hemiplegia, lower-limb weakness and move-
ment disorders caused by unhealthy lifestyles, traffic accidents and sports injuries [2,3].
This situation has brought a heavy burden to society and families. Therefore, it is impera-
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
tive to seek effective means of rehabilitation to enable patients to restore their lost standing
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. and walking functions to a certain extent, thus regaining self-care abilities and ultimately
This article is an open access article even be fully able to stand and walk.
distributed under the terms and Currently, two types of rehabilitation training are commonly used in these patients:
conditions of the Creative Commons standing and walking. The aim is to train the regulation functions of the neural system and
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// to enhance the memory of the muscle tissue in order to prevent the atrophy of lower limbs
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ caused by long-term nonuse [4]. Traditional lower limb rehabilitation training—due to the
4.0/). low availability of automated training devices—requires the assistance of rehabilitation

Machines 2022, 10, 266. https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10040266 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/machines

Machines 2022, 10, 266 2 of 27

teachers for the entire process. The limited number and energy of rehabilitation teachers
leads to problems such as expensive training and short training time [5]. Therefore, using
mechanical devices with high repeatability and precision instead of traditional rehabilita-
tion training equipment can improve the efficiency of rehabilitation and solve the above
problems. With the continuous optimization and improvement of rehabilitation medical
institutions, rehabilitation medical equipment has provided more comfortable and better
services to patients than ever before [6]. However, the problem of wearable lower-limb
rehabilitation medical equipment that can help train patients to stand and walk has not
been fully solved. Therefore, it is urgent to help patients have a reasonable means to
rehabilitate and walk again with assistive devices.
The development of lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robots is a great benefit
for people with special needs of lower-limb movement. With the lower-limb exoskeleton
rehabilitation robots, patients are able to perform medical rehabilitation training to achieve
normal walking and enhance quality of life [7]. Since the proposal of the exoskeleton
rehabilitation robots, they have been actively researched and developed in many coun-
tries. Examples of advanced lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robots in the world
include LokomaT [8] and Walkbot [9]—movable lower-limb exoskeletal robotic system.
They were among the first rehabilitation devices in the world to be successfully used in
rehabilitation medical institutions to help patients with rehabilitation training. Later, Ekso
Bionics Company developed Ekso TM. This is a medical gait-training exoskeleton for
patients with varying degrees of paralysis and hemiplegia [10]. In addition, a research
and development group at Vanderbilt University developed a lower-limb exoskeleton
called Indego to help paraplegics and stroke patients walk [11]. Further, Argo Medical
Inc. developed RewalkTM to provide powered hip/knee movements for paraplegics to
stand and walk [12]. These lower-limb exoskeleton robots have flexible hip, knee and ankle
joints similar to that of the human lower limbs, as well as a large assistive support frame
to provide support during patient training. The main target population is the rehabilita-
tion of hospital patients and persons with disabilities. In the development of lower-limb
exoskeleton rehabilitation robots, the last decade has seen a significant improvement in
every aspect of the system, with the Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) series of exoskeletons
developed by Japanese company Cyberdyne Inc. relatively representative [13,14]. The HAL
exoskeleton uses the wearer’s own electromyographic signal amplifier to estimate joint
torque in order to output assisted torque, thus enabling the wearer to control movement.
Furthermore, apart from HAL, a large number of rehabilitation aids have emerged in recent
years, such as AILEGS by Beijing AI-Robotics Ltd. (Beijing, China) [15], Shanghai Fourier
M2 by Fourier Technology Ltd. (Chatswood, Australia) [16] and Rex by Rex Bionics Ltd.
(London, UK) [17]. Currently, R&D organizations have developed a variety of walking
rehabilitation aids to help patients. Some of these are rehabilitation robotic systems fixed
on treadmills to assist patients with weight-reduction training. Although these exoskeleton
rehabilitation devices can be used for various types of rehabilitation aids, the majority
of them are still limited to rehabilitation facilities with a fixed training mode of walking,
which shows poor applicability to the patient.
A lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot is a combination of robot technology
and medical rehabilitation technology. In terms of machinery, the design of the exoskeleton
should not only combine rigid and flexible structures, but also have a high degree of
resemblance to the joints of the human body [18]. However, there are still many problems
with existing lower-limb exoskeletons, which traditionally use a thick, bulky support frame
with a low degree of freedom to support part of the wearer’s weight and mobility. To
improve comfort during use, the devices are designed to fit closely to the wearer’s limbs.
However, if the rigid support frame and mechanical components are tightly fitted to the
body, they may cause movement discomfort during rehabilitation training and are more
likely to cause secondary injury to patients (although in recent years flexible exoskeleton
devices have been able to assist patients in achieving natural human gait characteristics
and assist with lower-limb rehabilitation exercises in comfort [19,20]). However, these
Machines 2022, 10, 266 3 of 27

devices have not been able to provide stabilizing support until now, which is essential,
considering the importance of auxiliary support for people with lower-limb movement
disorders and lower-limb weakness. Thus, a flexible exoskeleton rehabilitation device is still
not the optimal choice. Therefore, by examining the structural characteristics of different
types of rehabilitation robots, the discomfort caused by mismatch between rehabilitation
movements in different rehabilitation stages can be effectively avoided. Existing lower-limb
exoskeleton rehabilitation robots also have problems such as large gaps between robot
mechanical structure and human physiological structures, poor rehabilitation comfort and
ineffective utilization of rehabilitation resources [21]. Wearing an appropriate exoskeleton
robot can effectively help the wearer carry out rehabilitation training to achieve normal
standing and walking. At the same time, the development of exoskeleton robots for lower-
limb rehabilitation not only eases the pressure on families and society to a certain extent,
but also contributes to the development of the entire healthcare and protection system of
the society.
In this study, an anthropomorphic, multi-degree-of-freedom (DOF), electrically driven
lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot walking aid was designed to assist people with
lower-limb movement disorders by providing moderate assistive training for standing and
walking as well as to promote functional strength. This study is based on an innovative
anthropomorphic design approach for lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robots. With
an in-depth understanding of the drawbacks of traditional rehabilitation training and the
performance of rehabilitation robots, an anthropomorphic hip, knee and ankle exoskeleton
structure was designed according to the principles of rehabilitation medicine and anthropo-
morphic design. A kinetic model simulation analysis and dynamic trajectory-capture data
analysis for the lower-limb rehabilitation robots was conducted. The system was designed
for passive rehabilitation training of the lower-limb exoskeleton robot. The rationality of
the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot system was verified through the experiment
of standing and walking of the wearers.
The main contributions of this paper are summarized as follows:
(1) An anthropomorphic, multi-degree-of-freedom (DOF), electrically driven lower-limb
exoskeleton rehabilitation robot walking aid was proposed. The robot adopted an
active–passive anthropomorphic design with 12 degrees of freedom. The multi-
degree-of-freedom hip exoskeleton, bionic artificial knee exoskeleton and passive
rigid–flexible-coupling ankle exoskeleton can assist patients in rehabilitation exercises
with better wear comfort and exercise flexibility. The innovative anthropomorphic
structural design method will play an important reference role in assisting lower-
limb exoskeleton rehabilitation training and also provide theoretical support for the
optimization and upgrading of lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robots.
(2) Based on the Lagrange mechanics method, the dynamic model of a seven-bar lower-
limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot and data analysis of dynamic trajectory capture
were established, and the accuracy of exoskeleton robot motion is verified by simula-
tion analysis. The control system of passive rehabilitation training for the lower-limb
exoskeleton rehabilitation robot was designed. The wearing comfort and movement
flexibility of the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot system were verified by
having test subjects wear the device, confirming it can provide adequate assistance
for patients in standing and walking rehabilitation training.

2. Biomechanical Analysis of the Human Body

2.1. Design Concept
The concepts of anthropomorphic design and bionic theory have been introduced into
the development of structures to provide wearers with a comfortable range of motion and
safe performance. Through analyzing the biomechanical properties of the human body, this
study aims at approximating the characteristics of natural human gait as closely as possible
and increasing the range of motion of the exoskeleton robot. In the design of lower-limb ex-
oskeleton rehabilitation robots, factors such as the number of degrees of freedom, structural
Machines 2022, 10, 266 4 of 27

forms, actuation method and wearable mode are all taken into consideration [22]. Therefore,
according to the human motion base plane (Figure 1), it can be broadly assumed that the
movements of joints in the sagittal plane, including flexion and extension, are predomi-
nant in activities such as walking, running, squatting, standing, climbing downstairs, etc.
Furthermore, most existing lower-limb exoskeleton robots have motors placed at different
joints. For this reason, the structure of the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot we
propose has six degrees of freedom (DOF) in each leg. Three of these degrees of freedom
are at the hip joint, one at the knee joint and two at the ankle joint. The hip and knee joints
are designed as active joints, and the ankle joints are designed as passive joints. In the sagit-
tal plane, the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot can achieve flexion/extension
ranging between 0~100◦ , adduction/abduction between 0~45◦ and internal/external rota-
tion between −25~25◦ at the hip joint, flexion/extension between 0~120◦ at the knee joint,
flexion/extension between −10~30◦ and internal/external rotation between −15~15◦ at
the ankle joint. The angular range of lower-limb motion analysis meets the angular re-
quirements of the lower-limb rehabilitation training process [23]. The human lower-limb
degrees of freedom and the robot degrees of freedom are shown in Table 1.

Figure 1. Fundamentals of human motion.

Table 1. Degrees of freedom allocation of human lower-limbs and robot.

Parts Degrees of Freedom Human Range of Motion Robot Range of Motion

Flexion/Extension −15~120◦ 0~100◦
Hip Abduction/Adduction −30~45◦ 0~45◦
Internal rotation external rotation −45~45◦ −25~25◦
Knee Flexion/Extension 0~135◦ 0~120◦
Flexion/Extension −20~45◦ −10~30◦
Ankle
Inversion/Eversion −30~20◦ −15~15◦

Because the degree of freedom of the hip joint, knee joint and ankle joint in the sagittal
plane is closely related to the walking gait, we took the flexion/extension degree of freedom
at the hip joint and knee joint in the sagittal plane as the actively driven joint; the other
degrees of freedom of motion are passively driven so as to maintain stability of motion
Machines 2022, 10, 266 5 of 27

during walking. In order to better facilitate patients’ rehabilitation assistive movement, the
introduction of anthropomorphic design can effectively improve the similarity of movement
between the wearer and the exoskeleton device. According to this design concept, the
choice of active freedom should meet the requirements of self-balancing walking ability,
natural gait and control of complexity. In order to cater to wearers with different pelvic
widths and thigh/calf lengths, a manual length regulator was designed in different parts.
In Figure 2, the detailed structural design of the lower-limb exoskeleton system is shown.
Most of the structural components of the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot are
made of aluminum, which is lightweight and high-strength. We selected the integrated
deceleration servo motor MYACTUATOR RMD-X10 (rated power of 400 W, maximum
torque of 50 Nm, weight of 1.1 kg and nominal speed of 160 rpm) produced in China as the
actuator of the driven joint to meet the parameters required by the exoskeleton robot to
match the physiological leg.

Figure 2. Structure diagram of lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot: (a) Waist exoskeleton
structure diagram; (b) Hip joint exoskeleton structure diagram; (c) Ankle joint exoskeleton structure
diagram; (d) Knee joint exoskeleton structure diagram.

2.2. Hip Structural Design

According to biomechanical research analysis, in activities of daily life, the degrees of
freedom of the hip joint are mainly achieved by flexion/extension, abduction/adduction
and internal rotation/external rotation, with the movement angles of these three degrees
of freedom in daily activities ranging from 0~100◦ for flexion/extension, 0~45◦ for abduc-
tion/adduction and −25~25◦ for internal/external rotation; thus, we used three rotational
DOFs to simulate the motion functions of the human hip joint (Figure 3). As the flex-
ion/extension DOF has a greater influence on walking motion than the other two DOFs in
rehabilitation walking training, we used a motor to achieve the same axial motion as the
human hip joint in order to reduce the relative frictional motion between the human body
and the machine. The other two degrees of freedom in the design, abduction/adduction
and internal/external rotation, mainly affect foot posture. Although their range of motion
reaches −45~45◦ , the motion amplitude caused by the two DOFs is very small. To facilitate
the design of the structure, the structure is designed in the form of a non-source passive
degree of freedom, and the DOF of internal/external rotation is transferred laterally along
the axis of internal/external rotation of the human hip joint to outside the human hip joint,
and the internal adduction/abduction DOF of the hip joint was achieved by setting the
connection of the hip joint frame and the waist frame as the rotational degree of freedom,
as shown in Figure 4.
Machines 2022, 10, 266 6 of 27

Figure 3. Motion range of human hip joint.

Figure 4. Hip exoskeleton structure.

In the design of hip and lumbar exoskeletons, the curvature of the lumbar region in the
horizontal plane varies by wearer. To better suit each wearer, the lower-limb exoskeleton
can be “anthropomorphized” by using internal/external rotation degrees of freedom at the
hip joint in conjunction with the lumbar rotation axis to reduce the deviation of the internal
and external thigh rotation axes [24]. A schematic diagram of the lumbar exoskeleton
structure is shown in Figure 5, where a single-degree-of-freedom telescopic metal plate is
used as the belt. The width adjustment mechanism is located at the belt, and a threaded
telescopic rod joint is used to accommodate different sizes of wearers. In addition, the
threaded telescopic rod can accurately accommodate the thickness difference between the
belt and the thigh, regardless of the wearer.

Figure 5. Waist exoskeleton structure: (a) Waist exoskeleton structure diagram; (b) Plan diagram of
the lumbar exoskeleton structure.
Machines 2022, 10, 266 7 of 27

If no lumbar DOFs are added, the angle of external rotation of the hip joint α moves
the central axis of the lower-limb ankle joint to O N , and then the center moves back to O H IP
in the direction of the arrow through the other joint DOFs of the lower limbs, yielding the
distance O N O H IP ; when lumbar DOFs are added, the angle of rotation of the hip motor
frame around the lumbar joint axis is β, and the DOF of the exoskeleton hip mechanism
is γ. With the combined action of the two, the central axis of the ankle joint moves to
OY , yielding the distance OY O H IP . Through a reasonable angular balance design, the
wearer’s matching of the waist to the exoskeleton will be improved during rehabilitation
training, thus achieving the anthropomorphic design of the waist exoskeleton to the human
lower limbs. As shown in Figure 6, the internal/external rotation angle of the hip joint is
represented by α, with the rotation axis of the waist as the origin of the coordinate axis.

Figure 6. Geometric model of internal/external rotation of hip joint: (a) Interior rotation plane diagram
of lumbar exoskeleton structure, (b) Interior rotation plane diagram of lumbar exoskeleton structure.
In Figure 6, lw represents the total length of the posterior lumbar connection, lh repre-
sents the length of the hip joint connection frame, and the angle θ satisfies θ = arctanlh /lw .
The point of projection of the hip exoskeleton in the axis of internal/external rotation is Q.
In the O-xy coordinate system, the ideal position O H IP is at coordinates (x0 , y0 ) in the O-xy
coordinate system, and the point Q is at coordinates (xQ , yQ ). The angular relationship in
the diagram satisfies α = β + γ, and the forward direction vector of the human lower-limb
thigh is a. When the hip exoskeleton rotates with the waist rotation axis as the center in
internal/external rotation movements, the exoskeleton size is constant, and the coordinates
Machines 2022, 10, 266 8 of 27

of the projection point Q are calculated and derived according to the rotation formula of
the rectangular plane coordinate system:

xQ = a sin α − lwh sin( β − θ )
(1)
yQ = a cos α + lwh cos( β − θ )

where: q
lwh = 2 + l2
lw h

Then, the offset distance of point Q to the ideal position O_HIP is:
q

2
2
ld = x Q − xo + y Q − yo (2)

Under the linear relationship β = kγ, as the elastic hinge connector is used to replace
the rotation axis at the waist rotation axis and is connected to both sides of the waist support
frame, the elastic proportional coefficient k is selected for the linear relationship.
The internal/external rotation angle α is discretized from −15◦ to 15◦ , and the
offset-distance distribution is calculated by different proportional coefficients k through
Formulas (1) and (2), as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Offset-distance distribution map.

From the above figures, it can be seen that the offset distance gradually increases with
the gradual increase of the scale factor k from 0 to 10, and the variance of the offset distance
can be calculated. The minimum range value of the variance region of the offset distance
occurs when the value of k ranges from 2 to 3. In other words, when the ratio of the rotation
angle β to the internal/external rotation angle γ of the exoskeletal hip joint is chosen to be
2.5, the best anthropomorphic state can be achieved for the internal/external rotation axis
of the exoskeletal hip joint.

2.3. Knee Structural Design

As one of the three major joints of the lower limbs, the knee joint provides not only
stability and protection to the body in terms of support, but also, to a certain extent,
compliance to assist in the normal movement of the lower limbs. An analysis based on
ergonomics and human biomechanical structural principles shows that human knee motion
is inherently multi-axial, with a variable instantaneous center of rotation (ICR); the femur
may tend to slide and roll over the tibia during knee flexion [25] (Figure 8). The primary
action of the knee joint is flexion/extension in the sagittal plane, with a maximum angular
range of flexion/extension of 120◦ , as shown in Figure 9.
Machines 2022, 10, 266 9 of 27

Figure 8. Transient rotation center trajectory of knee joint.

Figure 9. Angle of knee flexion.

Numerous research institutions have designed their knee exoskeleton structures in a
uniaxial rotational form with a single degree of freedom in order to simplify the design of
the knee exoskeleton [26]. However, the human knee can be better considered as a hinged
joint, and a uniaxial knee exoskeleton structure at a multi-axial knee joint may result in
sliding between the exoskeleton and the limb, which is likely to cause slippage and will
put unnecessary external forces on the limb. Patients wearing a knee exoskeleton may
experience discomfort due to the sliding motion and pain due to the binding force exerted
on the knee [27]. In this study, through biomechanical analysis of the human knee joint,
we designed a knee exoskeleton structure similar to the human knee bone and muscle
system based on bionic principles [28]. Figure 10 shows a simple exoskeleton system that
mimics the movement of the human knee joint (Figure 10a), with the ends of the linkage
mechanism fixed to the femur and tibia (Figure 10b). In order to align the movement of the
human knee with that of the exoskeleton knee, the knee exoskeleton structure was designed
Machines 2022, 10, 266 10 of 27

to resemble the human knee joint. Furthermore, the crossed four-bar linkage mechanism
provides multi-axial motion similar to that of the human knee, which may reduce the
relative motion between the wearer and the assistive device and improve comfort when
wearing the exoskeleton [29].

Figure 10. Crossed four-bar linkage knee exoskeleton structure: (a) Simple model of knee exoskeleton
structure; (b) Analytic diagram of knee exoskeleton structure.

To this end, this paper proposes a bionic artificial knee exoskeleton structure based on
the crossed four-bar linkage mechanism, which simulates the internal cruciate ligament of
the human knee joint to achieve the instantaneous rotation-center movement of the knee
joint. The electrically driven telescopic rod simulates the human thigh muscle to drive
knee exoskeleton movement, and the auxiliary-limit locking structure simulates the knee
patella to protect the knee exoskeleton against overextension (Figure 11). Figure 12 shows a
schematic diagram of the knee exoskeleton robot structure, whose knee motion mechanism
is driven by a motor linkage, with a single motor for precise bidirectional actuation. The
actuator module is driven by the MYACTUATOR RMD-X10 as described above. Although
the motor is slightly larger in diameter, the one-piece design provides a lighter overall
weight for the exoskeleton. The use of leg pads adds to the comfort and aesthetics of the
Machines 2022, 10, 266 11 of 27

device and conforms to the movement requirements of the legs during human lower-limb
movements, making it more comfortable to wear [30].

Figure 11. Knee locking mechanism.

Figure 12. Biomimetic artificial knee exoskeleton system.

2.4. Ankle Structural Design

The ankle joint, to some extent, can be considered as a ball-and-socket joint composed
of the tibia, fibula and ankle joint surface. As shown in the diagram, it has three degrees of
freedom of rotation, allowing for dorsiflexion/plantar flexion, inversion/external rotation
and internal/external rotation. The dorsiflexion/plantar flexion DOF is the largest of the
three and is essential to ensure good contact between the foot and the ground during
normal human walking. In internal/external rotation, the DOF will translate to the outside
of the axis due to its rotation, which will not cause significant relative human–machine
motion. For this reason, we analyzed the design of the internal/external rotation degrees
of freedom of the ankle joint, and found that (i) the function of this DOF was duplicated
in the internal/external rotation degrees of freedom of the hip joint; and (ii) if both the
DOFs were set on the exoskeleton, the rotational motion of the lower-limb exoskeleton
would be indeterminate, which would lead to an ambiguous mapping between human
and exoskeletal motion; therefore, the ankle internal/external rotation DOF was dropped,
and its degree of freedom was integrated with the hip internal/external rotation degrees
of freedom instead [31]. As for the internal/external rotation degrees of freedom, this
movement must be retained as an adjustment for the balance of movement in the left–
right direction during normal walking (as shown in Figure 13). The ankle exoskeleton
was therefore designed as a rigid–flexible coupling, with the foot connected by a tandem
mechanism. It was designed with the rotational degrees of freedom coaxial to the spherical
Machines 2022, 10, 266 12 of 27

center of the human ankle joint and connected in the form of an elastic element that mimics
the human hamstrings in order to improve the cushioning force when landing, as shown
in Figure 14.

Figure 13. Range of freedom of ankle joint.

Figure 14. Ankle exoskeleton structure.

3. Mathematical Model Analysis of Lower-Limb Exoskeleton Kinetic Analysis

3.1. Analysis of Lower-Limb Dynamic Model
According to the description in the previous section, in the field of rehabilitation
medicine research, for normal walking the movements in the coronal and horizontal
planes have less influence than the movements in the sagittal plane [32,33]. Therefore,
when conducting the modelling analysis on the dynamics of the lower-limb exoskeleton
rehabilitation robot, only changes within the sagittal plane were considered. Furthermore,
in rehabilitation training, limb movements of the exoskeleton robot are consistent with that
of the wearer, so the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot and the wearer can be
modeled as a whole, and its kinetic expressions are obtained from the Lagrange equation as:
..  ..
τR + τH = D (θ )θ + C θ, θ θ + G (θ ) (3)

where:
τR : Lower-limb exoskeleton robot torque;
τH : Patient torque;
D (θ ): Inertia matrix;
C (θ ): Coriolis force and centripetal force matrix;
G (θ ): Gravity matrix.
When modelling the dynamics of the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot, in
order to provide good rehabilitation training for patients, we divided the dynamics model
into two categories according to the status of the rehabilitation patients: (i) for patients who
have not completely lost their motor ability, the exoskeleton robot provides the driving
torque in coordination with the patient’s own torque to complete the walking; (ii) for
patients who have completely lost their motor ability, all the power during the training
Machines 2022, 10, 266 13 of 27

process will be provided by the lower-limb exoskeleton; in this situation, the driving torque
τH is close to zero (τH ∼
= 0) [34]. In this study, the passive rehabilitation training form was
adopted by the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot, therefore, we used the second
form of kinetic model for calculation. The normal human walking cycle can be divided into
four phases: (1) right single-leg support; (2) double-leg support; (3) left single-leg support;
(4) double-leg support. Based on the symmetry of the human body and the periodicity
of walking, the walking cycle can be further categorized into two walking modes: the
single-leg support phase mode, accounting for 60%, and the double-leg support phase
mode, accounting for 40% [35]. In this paper, kinetic equations were developed for the
different support-phase modes, and the sum of the left three terms of the kinetic expression
(3) was solved analytically from the two support-phase modes.

3.2. Single-Leg Support Phase Mode

According to the classification of human walking gait, the single-leg support phase
means one leg is in contact with the ground for support and the other leg is suspended in a
swinging position. Figure 15 shows a seven-link single-leg support phase model, including
the torso, left thigh, left calf, right thigh, right calf, left foot and right foot.

Figure 15. Single-leg support phase mode.

A coordinate system is established by selecting the left foot tip as its origin, with its
coordinates as (x0 , z0 ); mi is the mass of each segment, and (xi , zi ) is the centroid position of
each segment; li is the length of each segment; di is the distance from the centroid of each
segment to the joint; Qi is the angle between each segment and the vertical axis; α is the
angle between the two segments, and the clockwise direction is positive.
As shown in Figure 15, the centroid coordinate expression of each connecting rod in
the simplified model is:

i −1
 xi = di sin θi + ∑ a j L j sin θ j + x0




j =1
i −1
(4)
∑


z = d cos + a L cos


 i
 i θ i j j θ j
j =1


0( j = 3)
aj =
1( j = 1, 2, 4, 5, 6)
Machines 2022, 10, 266 14 of 27


. . i −1  . 
x = d cos + ∑ a L cos

 i

 θ
i i θ i j j jθ θ j
j =1
. i −1 . (5)
.
 
z = − d sin − ∑ a L cos



 i i θ i θ i j j θ j θ j
j =1

During the motion of the robot, the control system is generally established with joint
angle θi between the connecting rods as the feedback value, and the tracking control of the
robot trajectory is achieved through the control of motor torque. In Cartesian coordinates,
the following relationship exists between the angle of rotation θi and αi between adjacent
connecting rods:
θ1 = α1 , θ2 = α1 − α2 , θ3 = α1 − α2 − α3
θ4 = α4 − α1 + α2 + α3
θ5 = α4 − α1 + α2 + α3 − α5
θ6 = π2 + α4 − α1 + α2 + α3 − α5 − α6
.2
  
6 .2 .2

Ek = 12 ∑ mi xi + zi + Ii θ i
i =1

.2
 
6
1 2
= ∑ 2 Ii + mi di θ i
i =1( ( ))
6 . i −1 h .
i (6)
+ ∑ mi di θ i ∑ a j L j θ j cos θi − θ j
i =1   " j =1 # 
 2  2 
# "
6   i −1  . i −1  .
+ ∑ 12 mi ∑ a L θ cos θ j + ∑ a j L j θ j sin θ j
i =1   j =1 j j j j =1 

6
E p = ∑ mi gzi
I =1 "
(
6 i −1
#) (7)
= ∑ mi g ∑ a j L j cos θ j + di cos θi


i =1 j =1

According to Lagrange function equation:

L = Ek − E p
.2

6
= ∑ 12 Ii + mi d2i θ i


i =1( ( ))
6 . i −1 h .
i
+ ∑ mi di θ i ∑ a j L j θ j cos θi − θ j
i =1   " j =1 #  (8)
 2  2 
# "
6   i −1  . i −1  .
+ ∑ 21 mi ∑ a L θ cos θ j + ∑ a j L j θ j sin θ j
i =1   j =1 j j j j =1 
( " #)
6 i −1
− ∑ mi g ∑ a j L j cos θ j + di cos θi


i =1 j =1

The general form of the Lagrange Equation:

!
d ∂L ∂L
. − = τi (i = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) (9)
dt ∂θ ∂θi
i

The driving torque of each joint is calculated by Formulas (8) and (9):
..  ..
τ = D (θ )θ + C θ, θ θ + G (θ ) (10)
. ..
In the above formula, θ, θ, θ and τ are generalized coordinates, generalized ve-
locity, generalized acceleration and generalized force matrix, respectively. D (θ ) is a
Machines 2022, 10, 266 15 of 27

symmetric 6 × 6 inertia matrix, C (θ ) is a 6 × 6 Coriolis and centripetal force matrix, and

G (θ ) is a 6 × 1 gravity matrix. Their specific expressions are as follows:


 Dij = pij cos θi − θ j
.

Cij = pij sin θi − θ j θ j (11)

 G = g sin θ
i i i

where i, j = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; pij and gij are defined as follows:

 !
6
Ii + mi d2i + a ∑ m j li2

i=j





 j = i +1
!
pij = 6 (12)


 ai m j d j k i + ai a j ∑ m k li l j j>i


 k = j +1
pij j<i


!
6
gi = m i d i g + a i ∑ m j li g (13)
j = i +1

The expression of joint torque τi of each joint is:

6 ∂θ j 6  
τi = ∑ Tj ∂qi = ∑ Tj M −1 (14)
j =1 j =1 ji

3.3. Double-Leg Support Phase Mode

In the double-leg support phase mode, both feet are in full contact with the ground,
and the exoskeleton robot forms a closed-loop constraint with the ground, as shown in
Figure 16. In this state, due to the slow movement of the human torso, which basically
remains static, it can be approximately regarded as a static process. At this point, the torso
can be divided into two parts for the convenience of calculation; we equally distributed the
body torso mass, and—in accordance with the simplified model—it was divided into two
open-chain structure systems with three degrees of freedom, as shown in Figure 17.

Figure 16. Double-leg support phase mode.

Machines 2022, 10, 266 16 of 27

where: m F3 : Quality of front leg;

m B3 : Quality of back leg;
x F3 : Horizontal distance between center of mass of front leg and center of mass of
body trunk;
x B3 : Horizontal distance between center of mass of back leg and center of mass of
body trunk;
S: Step size.

Figure 17. Single-leg open chain structure with three degrees of freedom.

x B3 = x0 + l1 sin θ1 + l2 sin θ2 + d3 sin θ3

(15)
x F3 = S − l4 sin θ4 − l5 sin θ5 + d3 sin θ3
m3 = m F3 + m B3 (16)
For the rear leg, the centroid coordinates of each rod are:

i −1
 x Bi = x0 + di sin θi + ∑ l j sin θ j




j =1
i −1
(17)
di cos θi + ∑ l j cos θ j


z Bi =




j =1

The kinetic energy and potential energy of the back leg are:

.2
 
3 .
2 .2

1
EkB = ∑ mi xi + zi + Ii θ i
2
i =1

.2
 
3
1 2
= ∑ 2 Ii + mi di θ i
i =1( ( ))
3 . i −1 h .
i (18)
+ ∑ mi di θ i ∑ L j θ j cos θi − θ j
i =1   " j =1 # 
 2  2 
# "
3   i −1  . i −1  .
+ ∑ 12 mi ∑ L θ cos θ j + ∑ L j θ j sin θ j
i =1   j =1 j j j =1 
Machines 2022, 10, 266 17 of 27

3
E pB = ∑ mi gzi
(i=1 " #) (19)
3 i −1
= ∑ mi g ∑ L j cos θ j + di cos θi


i =1 j =1

L B = EkB − E pB

.2
 
3
1 2
= ∑ 2 Ii + mi di θ i
i =1( ( ))
3 . i −1 h .
i
+ ∑ mi di θ i ∑ L j θ j cos θi − θ j
i =1   " j =1 #  (20)
 2  2 
# "
3   i −1  . i −1  .
+ ∑ 12 mi ∑ L θ cos θ j + ∑ L j θ j sin θ j
i =1   j =1 j j j =1 
( " #)
3 i −1
− ∑ mi g ∑ L j cos θ j + di cos θi


i =1 j =1

Similarly, for the front leg, the coordinates of the rod centroid are Equation (21).
According to the same calculation, the kinetic energy and potential energy of the front leg
are calculated:  " #
i −1
 x Fi = S − ∑ l j sin θ j − di sin θi




j =1
(21)
i −1
 z Fi = di cos θi + ∑ l j cos θ j




j =1

4. Human Gait Data Collection and Dynamic Simulation

4.1. Human Gait Data Acquisition and Processing
For the rehabilitation walking training process, the initial aim of the lower-limb
exoskeleton rehabilitation robot is to help patients to walk with normal gait and to provide
safe and effective rehabilitation walking training for them. Therefore, to obtain and analyze
human gait data and apply it to the lower-limb exoskeleton is essential for the study of the
gait of the lower-limb exoskeleton robot. Through analysis of human gait, it is known that
human gait is characterized by periodicity, repeatability and symmetry. Therefore, during
data collection, the data of human walking gait in a single cycle can be collected to deduce
the gait pattern of the human body in the whole cycle [36].
In this study, the motion capture system Motion Analysis, produced by Swedish
company Qualisys, was used. It is an optical (infrared) motion capture system. The
3D-motion-capture system uses four sets of camera lenses to capture the movements of the
joints of the human upper limbs with a speed of 10,000 Hz, a resolution ratio of 1824 × 1088,
a 3D mode resolution of 0.11 mm, a frame rate of 340 fps, and a maximum distance of 15 m.
The Qualisys motion capture camera diagram and the actual motion capture acquisition
diagram are shown in Figure 18.
Gait data acquisition of human lower-limb movement operates by capturing the
trajectory of the marker ball pasted on the human lower-limb through multiple motion-
capture cameras, so as to calculate the rotation angle of each joint. According to the
periodicity and symmetry of human gait, marker balls were pasted on the waist, hip,
thigh, knee, calf, ankle and foot prior to data acquisition (one participant wore body-
fitted test clothes); the marker balls ensured the accuracy of joint-angle measurement
and the continuity of joint and leg during walking for each joint during data acquisition.
During the experiment, the subjects stood and walked: standing vertically at the coordinate
origin established on the ground and performing three kinds of walking gait within the
set distance, including flexion/extension movement of the hip joint, flexion/extension
movement of the knee joint, and dorsiflexion/flexion movement of the ankle. An 8 m,
indoor, straight-line distance was selected for data acquisition, and the sampling period was
set to 5 s. The motion capture analysis software interface is shown in Figure 19. In terms
Machines 2022, 10, 266 18 of 27

of the joint torque of the human gait, combined with the existing laboratory environment,
CGA (Clinical Gait Analysis) was chosen as the actual data parameters for analysis [37].

Figure 18. Acquisition diagram of dynamic capture system: (a) Human motion capture scene;
(b) Paste position of human motion markers.

Figure 19. Variation-patterns of human joint motion angles and torques: (a) Chart of lower limb joint
motion angle; (b) Chart of lower limb joint motion torque.
Machines 2022, 10, 266 19 of 27

After acquiring the subject’s human gait data, these data were then processed to
exclude obvious noise, and the motion angles and joint torques of the lower-limbs were
obtained, with the actual motion-capture-acquisition diagram shown in Figure 18. The
data parameters were stored in the computer and processed by transforming the Cartesian
spatial position coordinates through the sine and cosine functions, and the processed data
were imported into MATLAB for curve fitting. Figure 19a shows the motion angle of human
joints, and Figure 19b shows the variation law of human joint torque.
The variation pattern of angle and torque for each joint of the leg can be derived from
Figure 19, where the flexion/extension motion data was collected for each joint of the leg at
5 s/cycle. During the entire walking gait of the human body, the angular variation range
of the ankle and hip joints is small, while the angular variation range of the knee joint is
relatively large. Conversely, since the human hip joint is the active joint and the ankle joint
is the load-bearing joint, their torque variations are relatively large, which coincides with
the intuitive motion pattern of the human body during normal walking.

4.2. Dynamic Simulation Analysis

Through the dynamic theoretical analysis in the previous section, the dynamic charac-
teristics of the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot are completely described, which
lays a foundation for the research of the control system as well. However, its form is not
intuitive, and the accuracy of the results cannot be fully guaranteed. Therefore, dynamic
simulation analysis based on an ADAMS model can visually demonstrate the simulation
results and verify the reliability and the dynamic analysis results of the lower-limb ex-
oskeleton rehabilitation robot, as shown in Figure 20. According to the motion state of the
lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot and the constraints in the structural design,
the lower-limb exoskeleton model was defined and constrained, and rotation drive was
added to the left/right hip joint and left/right knee joint. The drive function came from the
data collected and processed by the human gait experiments. The walking simulation was
carried out, and the curve relationship between the joint torque, angle and motion period
was obtained.

Figure 20. Dynamic analysis of lower-limb exoskeleton robot.

In Figure 21, the flexion/extension angle curves in the sagittal plane of a unilateral hip
joint, knee joint and ankle joint are shown. Through comparison, it can be intuitively seen
that the angle change relationship of the three joints in the process of flexion/extension
match the joint angle change range during the exoskeleton walking cycle. Overall, the
angle curves in the diagram are relatively smooth, without cusps, and there is not too much
fluctuation, indicating that the exoskeleton simulation walking process is stable.

Figure 21. Joint angle changes of lower-limb exoskeleton robot.

Machines 2022, 10, 266 20 of 27

Figures 22–24 are the actual angle curves and simulated motion curves of the hip
joint, knee joint and ankle joint during normal walking. The solid red line corresponds
to the actual measured motion curve; the blue dotted line corresponds to the simulation
motion curve.

Figure 22. Hip angle variation chart.

Figure 23. Knee angle variation chart.

Figure 24. Ankle angle variation chart.

The main movement of the hip joint during walking is flexion/extension in the sagittal
plane, which corresponds to flexion/extension of the thigh during walking, with the
motion angles ranging from approximately 30◦ to −25◦ . In comparison with the actual
measurements, without the influence of structural errors, friction or applied impedance, the
simulated curve is smoother than the actual curve and the flexion and extension movements
correspond to the range of motion of the hip joint during walking.
The main movement of the knee joint during walking is sagittal flexion/extension,
corresponding to flexion and extension of the leg during walking. As shown in Figure 23,
the range of the flexion and extension angle is about 0~60◦ . Considering that there is a
certain flexion angle of the leg when standing naturally and the reference plane takes the
hip joint as the reference value of 0◦ , if the knee joint is taken as the reference value of
0◦ , the range of flexion and extension angle of the knee joint should be 0~40◦ . However,
in the theoretical calculation and the simulation analysis curve, there are still the same
influencing factors as those of the hip joint. Therefore, the flexion and extension of the knee
joint conform to the range of knee joint movement when walking.
As can be seen in Figure 24, among the three joints, the angular range of motion of the
ankle joint is relatively small. If we take the ankle joint as the 0-degree reference plane, then
the range of flexion and extension angles is −3◦ to 9◦ . From the figures we can also see
that the error between the actual measurement curve and the simulation curve is relatively
obvious. From the analysis of the data, we believe that it is the inclusion of elastic elements
in the ankle joint exoskeleton structure that cause the movement curve to be unstable.
Machines 2022, 10, 266 21 of 27

Figures 25–27 show the comparison between the theoretical and simulated torque
curves for the hip, knee and ankle joints, respectively. From top to bottom, the flex-
ion/extension joints of the hip, knee and ankle are represented in order. According to the
figures, it can be seen that the hip joint has the largest torque among the three joints, and
the joint torque variation pattern of the exoskeleton is similar to that of the corresponding
human joints. By comparing the curves of each joint, it is found that the peak torques of the
hip and knee joints occur at approximately the same time, and there are two peak torques
in one cycle. In contrast, the ankle joint has only one peak per cycle.

Figure 25. Hip joint torque change rule diagram.

Figure 26. Knee joint torque change rule diagram.

Figure 27. Ankle joint torque change rule diagram.

Figures 28 and 29 show the displacement of each joint of the lower-limb exoskeleton
robot system and the displacement curve of the foot of the lower-limb exoskeleton. It can
be seen that the movement displacement curve of each joint of the exoskeleton in one cycle
is smooth, with no protruding curve change. As the displacement gradually increases, the
curve change from the waist to the foot tends to be obvious, while the foot displacement
change is periodically symmetrically distributed.

Figure 28. Displacement of each joint of lower-limb exoskeleton robot system.

Machines 2022, 10, 266 22 of 27

Figure 29. Foot displacement of lower extremity exoskeleton.

From the above Figures 20–29, it can be seen that during walking, the single- and
double-leg support phases alternate within a relatively short time, and the flexion/extension
angle curves as well as the joint torque curves of the hip, knee and ankle show periodic
changes. Through comparative analysis, it is found that—although the motion trend,
flexion and extension angles and torque of each joint are within the range of human gait
data—there is still a certain deviation between the theoretical calculations and the simula-
tion analysis. The main factors responsible for the deviation are as follows: In the dynamic
theoretical calculation, the exoskeleton robot was regarded as an ideal model, and the
lower-limb exoskeleton system was simplified as a seven-bar mechanism model, so factors
such as ground friction and error were ignored. In the virtual prototype simulation, the
model structure in the simulation was relatively complex, so there were some errors in the
setting of freedom degree, bar stiffness and friction, as well as in the motion function set by
using the experimental motion data. Therefore, there are differences between theoretical
calculations and simulation results.

5. Control System and Experiment of Lower-Limb Rehabilitation Robot

In this study, the high-level computer control robot was used to carry out passive
rehabilitation training on the affected limb with the gait rehabilitation training method of
the multi-joint linkage. The overall accessories of the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation
robot system are shown in Figure 30. The motion control card and data acquisition card
are the core of the lower computer for circuit control. The motion control card is in charge
of the motion control of the flexion/extension of the hip and knee. The information
acquisition card is in charge of the data acquisition from the displacement angle sensor
(Novotechnik SP2800, range 180◦ ), torque sensor (ZYJN-104, range 0–150 Nm), pressure
sensor (L10M, range 100 kg) and other sensors. The upper computer assists patients with
appropriate rehabilitation training by setting the motion parameters of each joint and then
transmitting the relevant parameters to the motion control card. The data collected by all
sensors is transmitted to the data acquisition card [38]. After the control operation, the
data acquisition card converts the collected data into motion parameters, and transmits the
motion parameters to the motion control card to transform them into the motor rotation
information, which is output to each motor driver. The flow chart of the whole control
system is shown in Figure 31.
When designing the control system, patient safety and system stability were the
primary considerations. To prevent secondary damage to the limb due to excessive motor
output torque, current detection and limit sensor detection were used. The current output
of the drive may be fed back to the motion control card in real-time, and the system will stop
working as soon as the current exceeds the permitted value. A one-touch emergency stop
function is also available to stop the system immediately when the patient is in discomfort.
Figure 32 shows the wearing experiment of the designed lower-limb exoskeleton reha-
bilitation robot. The exoskeleton robot system was tested for standing, buckling/stretching,
and leg lifting. Figure 33 shows the walking gait training test of the prototype system of the
rehabilitation robot in one cycle. In the experiment, the test time of the flexion/extension
degrees of freedom of the three joints was set to 20 s, and the motion range was consistent
with that of the normal human walking gait. Due to the limited distance of the experi-
Machines 2022, 10, 266 23 of 27

mental site, the test sampling period was 10 s [39]. The test results in Figure 34 show the
experimental curves of hip, knee and ankle flexion/extension of lower limbs. The red line
in the figure shows the simulation results and the blue line shows the test results. It can be
seen that there is a certain deviation between the actual angle and the simulation angle of
the three joints of the exoskeleton robot in motion, which is mainly due to three reasons:
the degree of freedom of the mechanical structure itself, the error caused by processing
and assembly, and certain external forces the subject wearing the robot inevitably exerts
on the rehabilitation robot. After the experimental analysis, the prototype test results are
basically consistent with the simulation results, indicating that the lower-limb exoskeleton
rehabilitation robot meets the expected design requirements and can complete the motion
function required for passive rehabilitation training of lower limbs.

Figure 30. Accessories of lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot.

Figure 31. Control system diagram of lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot.

Figure 32. Wearing experiment of lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot.

Machines 2022, 10, 266 24 of 27

Figure 33. Walking gait experiment of lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot.

Figure 34. Experimental results of lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot joints. (a) Results
of hip flexion/extension test. (b) Results of knee flexion/extension test. (c) Results of ankle flex-
ion/extension test.

6. Conclusions
In this paper, a humanoid design of an electrically driven lower-limb exoskeleton
rehabilitation robot is proposed. It aims to help patients with wearable walking assistance
training to regain the ability to stand and walk, and to restore and improve functional
disorder of the limbs to provide comfortable rehabilitation training auxiliary movement.
A 12-degree-of-freedom active–passive anthropomorphic design with four drive motors
for exoskeleton joint movements, a multi-degree-of-freedom hip exoskeleton, a bionic
artificial knee exoskeleton and a passive rigid–flexible ankle exoskeleton can well assist
wearers in rehabilitation exercises with better wearing comfort and motion flexibility.
With the development of a seven-rod lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot kinetic
Machines 2022, 10, 266 25 of 27

model and the motion trajectory data obtained by a dynamic capture method, a more
accurate theoretical basis was provided for gait planning and the control system of the
lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot, the designing of the control system for passive
rehabilitation training, and the conduction of standing and walking experiments with
the wearer.
According to the experimental results, the feasibility of the proposed anthropomorphic
lower-limb exoskeleton structure was verified by the walking gait experiments for reha-
bilitation training on a flat surface, and sound coordination between the motion form of
the exoskeleton structure and human motion was further demonstrated. During the static
and dynamic experiments conducted by the subjects, the exoskeleton rehabilitation system
performed rehabilitation walking with a reasonable range of torque, and the lower-limb
exoskeleton rehabilitation robot maintained a range of motion similar to that of the human
body in the same cycle. Although there were some deviations due to the degree of freedom
of the exoskeleton mechanical structure itself, processing and assembly, etc., the results
of the test robot basically met the standard; the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation
robot satisfied the expected design requirements and performed well the motor functions
required for passive rehabilitation training of the lower limbs.

Author Contributions: In this work, M.G. and Z.P. conceived and designed the experiments; J.S.
gave some constructive suggestions; S.L. performed the experiments; J.L. and H.Z. analyzed the
data; Z.W. guided the writing of the article and made some modifications; M.G. wrote the paper. All
authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
under grant 51875047 and grant 61873304, in part by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
funded project under grants 2019T120240 and 2018M641784, and in part by the Foundation of Jilin
Province Science and Technology under grant JJKH20181012KJ.
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.
Acknowledgments: The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the Editor for their
valuable comments and suggestions on improving this paper.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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