High level overview

A high level overview of the components that make up the MARCH exoskeleton.

The March software stack

Simulation versus Exoskeleton

As the MARCH exoskeleton is under construction most of the time, we have made use of a simulation to ensure we can verify our higher level nodes work. As seen in the above image, most of the hardware components have a simulated counterpart.

When launching, the user can choose whether to launch the simulation or the hardware. See march_launch for more information on launching the exoskeleton.

Input Device

The pilot of the exoskeleton can give input on which gait they want to perform through the input device embedded in one of the crutches, see march_input_device. Furthermore, there exists a developer input device in the form of an RQT plugin, see march_rqt_input_device. Both of these ways of input can either be used in the simulation or the hardware. They are not dependent on the configuration in which the exoskeleton is run.