Adaptive assist-as-needed controller to improve gait symmetry in robot-assisted gait training

Damiano Zanotto, Paul Stegall, Sunil K. Agrawal

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

63 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper introduces the overall design of ALEX III, the third generation of Active Leg Exoskeletons developed by our group. ALEX III is the first treadmill-based rehabilitation robot featuring 12 actively controlled degrees of freedom (DOF): 4 at the pelvis and 4 at each leg. As a first application of the device, we present an adaptive controller aimed to improve gait symmetry in hemiparetic subjects. The controller continuously modulates the assistive force applied to the impaired leg, based on the outputs of kernel-based non-linear filters, which learn the movements of the healthy leg. To test the effectiveness of the controller, we induced asymmetry in the gait of three young healthy subjects adding ankle weights (2.3kg). Results on kinematic data showed that gait symmetry was recovered when the controller was active.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Pages724-729
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781479936854, 9781479936854
DOIs
StatePublished - 22 Sep 2014
Event2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2014 - Hong Kong, China
Duration: 31 May 20147 Jun 2014

Publication series

NameProceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
ISSN (Print)1050-4729

Conference

Conference2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2014
Country/TerritoryChina
CityHong Kong
Period31/05/147/06/14

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