A Method for the Autonomous Control of Lower Limb Exo-skeletons for Persons with Paraplegia
Efforts have recently been reported by several research groups on the development of computer-controlled lower limb orthoses to enable legged locomotion in persons with paraplegia. Such systems must employ a control framework that provides essential movements to the paraplegic user (i.e., sitting, s...
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| Published in | Journal of medical devices Vol. 6; no. 4 |
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| Main Authors | , , |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
United States
12.12.2012
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| Online Access | Get more information |
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| Summary: | Efforts have recently been reported by several research groups on the development of computer-controlled lower limb orthoses to enable legged locomotion in persons with paraplegia. Such systems must employ a control framework that provides essential movements to the paraplegic user (i.e., sitting, standing, and walking), and ideally enable the user to autonomously command these various movements in a safe, reliable, and intuitive manner. This paper describes a control method that enables a paraplegic user to perform sitting, standing, and walking movements, which are commanded based on postural information measured by the device. The proposed user interface and control structure was implemented on a powered lower limb orthosis, and the system was tested on a paraplegic subject with a T10 complete injury. Experimental data is presented that indicates the ability of the proposed control architecture to provide appropriate user-initiated control of sitting, standing, and walking. The authors also provide a link to a video that qualitatively demonstrates the user's ability to independently control basic movements via the proposed control method. |
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| ISSN: | 1932-6181 |