Fall preventive gait trajectory planning of a lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton based on capture point theory

Abstract

We study the balance problem caused by forward leaning of the wearer’s upper body during rehabilitation training with a lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton. The instantaneous capture point is obtained by modeling the human-exoskeleton system and using the capture point theory. By comparing the stability region with instantaneous capture points of different gait phases, the balancing characteristics of different gait phases and changes to the equilibrium state in the gait process are analyzed. Based on a model of the human-exoskeleton system and the condition of balance of different phases, a trajectory correction strategy is proposed for the instability of the human-exoskeleton system caused by forward leaning of the wearer’s upper body. Finally, the reliability of the trajectory correction strategy is verified by carrying out experiments on the Zhejiang University Lower Extremity Exoskeleton. The proposed trajectory correction strategy can respond to forward leaning of the upper body in a timely manner. Additionally, in the process of the center of gravity transferred from a double-support phase to a single-support phase, the ratio of gait cycle to zero moment point transfer is reduced correspondingly, and the gait stability is improved.