Abstract
Tripping is a common problem that everyone faces when walking. This paper mainly focuses on a lower limb exoskeleton that can help those weak in joints to avoid tripping when negotiating stairs or stepping over obstacles. This method does not need a camera or map reconstruction to recognize the obstacles and plan paths. The exoskeleton applies an impedance controller to follow and control the pilot’s movements. A virtual potential field is proposed to help the robot regulate the pilot’s motion and avoid kicking the obstacles appearing in front of the pilot’s foot during walking. Simulation and experiments show that this method works effectively and could help the elderly and those affected by joint weakness avoid tripping when walking.
Highlights
The global trend in population aging is associated with an increased incidence of falls, resulting in morbidity, mortality, and burden to the individual, immediate family, and the social healthcare system [1,2]
Compared with traditional impedance control, the most significant difference in the impedance controller in the exoskeleton is than the reference trajectory is obtained from the human, so is unknown and needs to be estimated by the human–exoskeleton interactive force [41]
This paper presented an impedance control exoskeleton robot to avoid obstacles by using a virtual potential field
Summary
The global trend in population aging is associated with an increased incidence of falls, resulting in morbidity, mortality, and burden to the individual, immediate family, and the social healthcare system [1,2]. Compared with providing adequate recovery response after tripping, avoiding obstacles before tripping by controlling foot clearance is more feasible and more accessible using a robot. Devices that can provide power assistance at the weak or fatigue joints as well as control foot clearance would be a better choice to decrease the risk of falls during walking. Many types of exoskeleton have been proposed to help soldiers [18,19], workers [20,21,22,23,24], the elderly [20,25,26], and the differently-abled [27,28,29,30]. We propose a tripping-free exoskeleton robot to help the pilot avoid obstacles by controlling the foot clearance during climbing stairs or level walking
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