Assisting human balance in standing with a robotic exoskeleton
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This letter presents an experimental study on balance recovery control with a lower limb exoskeleton robot. Four participants were subjected to a perturbation during standing, a forward force impulse applied to their pelvis that forced them to step forward with the right leg for balance recovery. Trials with and without exoskeleton assistance to move the stepping legs thigh were conducted to investigate the influence of the exoskeletons control assistance on balancing performance and a potential adaptation. Analysis of the body kinematics and muscle activation demonstrates that robotic assistance: first, was easy to use and did not require learning, nor inhibited the healthy stepping behavior; second, it modified the stepping leg trajectories by increasing hip and knee movement; third, increased reaction speed and decreased the step duration; and finally, generally increased biceps femoris and rectus femoris muscle activity.
Date Issued
2019-04-01
Date Acceptance
2018-12-14
Citation
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2019, 4 (2), pp.414-421
ISSN
2377-3766
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Start Page
414
End Page
421
Journal / Book Title
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Volume
4
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
Commission of the European Communities
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000456652300019&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
601003
611626
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Robotics
Prosthetics and exoskeletons
physically assistive devices
human performance augmentation
GAIT
RECOVERY
REHABILITATION
WALKING
DESIGN
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2019-01-03