Abstract
Robot-assisted rehabilitation of gait still faces many challenges, one of which is improving physical human-robot interaction. The use of pleated pneumatic artificial muscles to power a step rehabilitation robot has the potential to meet this challenge. This paper reports on the development of a gait rehabilitation exoskeleton with a knee joint powered by pleated pneumatic artificial muscles. It is intended as a platform for the evaluation of design and control concepts in view of improved physical human-robot interaction. The design was focused on the optimal dimensioning of the actuator configuration. Safety being the most important prerequisite, a proxy-based sliding mode controller (PSMC) was implemented as it combines accurate tracking during normal operation with a smooth, slow and safe recovery from large position errors. Treadmill walking experiments of a healthy subject wearing the powered exoskeleton show the potential of PSMC as a safe robot-in-charge control strategy for robot-assisted gait training.
Highlights
Locomotion training is considered an effective approach to helping incomplete spinal cord injured (SCI) subjects recover their walking capabilities (Wernig and Muller 1992; Wirz et al 2001)
Research on assistive technology for the lower limbs needs to be mentioned. The latter comprise powered orthoses to compensate for gait insufficiency as well as robotic exoskeletons acting as a force/power augmenting device
Our goal is to develop such a device and to meet the aforementioned challenges by means of a special type of actuator: the pleated pneumatic artificial muscle (PPAM) (Daerden and Lefeber 2001, 2002; Verrelst et al 2006)
Summary
Locomotion training is considered an effective approach to helping incomplete spinal cord injured (SCI) subjects recover their walking capabilities (Wernig and Muller 1992; Wirz et al 2001). The Biomechatronics Lab of the University of California has developed several robotic devices (ARTHuR: ambulation-assisting robotic tool for human rehabilitation, PAM: pelvic assist manipulator, POGO: pneumatically operated gait orthosis) to study the mechanisms of motor learning and the effects of robot-assisted gait training in SCI patients (Reinkensmeyer et al 2006) The rationale behind these devices is to assist only as needed and provide a sensory input as natural as possible to maximise therapy outcome. Research on assistive technology for the lower limbs needs to be mentioned The latter comprise powered orthoses to compensate for gait insufficiency as well as robotic exoskeletons acting as a force/power augmenting device.
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