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JRM Vol.35 No.3 pp. 669-683
doi: 10.20965/jrm.2023.p0669
(2023)

Paper:

Development of an Ankle Assistive Robot with Instantly Gait-Adaptive Method

Ming-Yang Xu*, Yi-Fan Hua*, Yun-Fan Li*, Jyun-Rong Zhuang** ORCID Icon, Keisuke Osawa* ORCID Icon, Kei Nakagawa***, Hee-Hyol Lee*, Louis Yuge***, and Eiichiro Tanaka*

*Graduate School of Information, Production and Systems, Waseda University
2-7 Hibikino, Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka 808-0135, Japan

**Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chung Hsing University
No.145, Xingda Rd., South District, Taichung City 402202, Taiwan

***Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University
1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan

Received:
December 23, 2022
Accepted:
March 22, 2023
Published:
June 20, 2023
Keywords:
ankle assistive robot, gait adaptation, human-robot interaction
Abstract

As the population ages, the number of elderly people suffering from systemic diseases such as stroke increases. To address this problem, various wearable walking assistive robots have been developed to promote physical exercise for stroke prevention. Wearable assistive robots have shown the ability to improve human mobility. However, most of these robots are heavy, bulky, and impractical. In this study, we developed a compact ankle assistive robot for elderly users to promote walking exercise. By informing the user of correct motion and timing, the robot can guide the user to achieve a healthy gait by only assisting their ankle joint. The robot provides faster-than-ankle motion to allow the user to feel supported while walking. Users can adjust the robot’s assistance parameters through a graphical user interface (GUI) according to their needs. Furthermore, we proposed a gait-adaptive method for ankle assistive robots to adapt to the user’s changing gait. Hence, the robot can automatically adjust the parameters to provide more accurate walking assistance. Finally, the results of an evaluation experiment demonstrated the feasibility of human gait adaptation. The proposed methods have the advantages of low cost and easy implementation.

Ankle assistive robot with instantly gait-adaptive method

Ankle assistive robot with instantly gait-adaptive method

Cite this article as:
M. Xu, Y. Hua, Y. Li, J. Zhuang, K. Osawa, K. Nakagawa, H. Lee, L. Yuge, and E. Tanaka, “Development of an Ankle Assistive Robot with Instantly Gait-Adaptive Method,” J. Robot. Mechatron., Vol.35 No.3, pp. 669-683, 2023.
Data files:
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Last updated on Dec. 02, 2024