Robotic prothesis to prevent trip and fall using transition of instantaneous center of rotation

Name: Obayashi, Shuya

Organization : Mie University. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

Name: Katsumura, Motoyu

Organization : Mie University. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

Name: Yano, Ken'ichi

Organization : Mie University. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

Email : yanolab@robot mach mie-u.ac.jp

Name: Hamada, Atsushi

Organization : Imasen Engineering Corporation

Name: Nakao, Tomoyuki

Organization : Imasen Engineering Corporation

Name: Torii, Katsuhiko

Organization : Imasen Engineering Corporation

keyword: Multi-axis knee joints

ThaSH: Artificial legs -- Design and construction -- Human factors

; Electronically Controlled Knee Joints

ThaSH: Robots -- Automatic control

ThaSH: Orthopedic apparatus

Abstract: The number of lower limb amputations in Japan has recently been increasing. There are two main types of lower limb amputations: below knee (50 percent) and above knee (35 percent). Especially, for patients with above-knee amputation, above-knee prosthesis is commonly applied. In these prothesis, knee joints are designed with knee flexion and extension functions. However, if unexpected knee bending occurs during walking, there are risks of tripping and falling. Thus. few lower limb amputees use prosthesis. In order to prevent unexpected knee bending, which is the main cause of tripping with above-knee prosthesis, various kinds of knee joints have been developed. The multi-axis knee joints prevent knee bending by adjusting the links structure at heel contact, through which shifts the instantaneous center of rotation toward behind the center of gravity. However, while this mechanism is functional for preventing knee bending in the stance phase, prevention in the swing phase was not considered. Because knee bending in the swing stance also causes stumbling, the risk of tripping and falling remains high. The electronically controlled knee joints use sensors to detect the walking cycle and prevent knee bending by controlling hydraulic pressure. However, they are too heavy because of the hydraulic cylinders. In this study, we developed a robot prosthesis that prevents falling by controlling the link positions of the knee joint with an actuator based on the state transition, while a finite state machine is used to model the walking state. By controlling the linkage mechanism, we achieved correspondence to knee bending throughout the stance and swing phases. Furthermore, we confirmed fall prevention and normal walking motion in experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok. Central Library

Address: BANGKOK

Email: library@kmutnb.ac.th

Created: 2018

Modified: 2025-06-26

Issued: 2025-06-26

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BibliograpyCitation : In Thammasat University Faculty of Engineering. The 9th TSME International Conference on Mechanical Engineering 2018 (TSME-ICoME9) (pp.549-554) Pathum Thani : Thammasat University

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