A brushless DC motor solution for use in hip and knee exoskeletons. This complete joint actuation unit consists of motor, gearhead, encoder and position controller. Fitting absolute encoder directly at the joint rotation provides designers increased positioning accuracy. The unit will deliver 54Nm of continuous torque and 120Nm on a 20% duty cycle. The system can be operated on supplies between 10 and 50V DC and the actuation speed is up to 22rpm.