Walking-Stair Climbing Control for Powered Knee Prostheses

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molei Wu ◽  
Xiangrong Shen
Keyword(s):  
Impedance Control ◽  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
Stair Climbing ◽  
Knee Joints ◽  
Knee Prostheses ◽  
Control Approach ◽  
Prosthetic Joints ◽  
Real Time Measurement ◽  
Human Subject Testing ◽  
Finite State

Recent progresses in powered lower-limb prostheses have the potential of enabling amputee users to conduct energetically demanding locomotive tasks, which are usually beyond the capability of traditional unpowered prostheses. Realizing such potential, however, requires responsive and reliable control of the power provided by prosthetic joints. In this paper, an integrated walking-stair climbing control approach is presented for transfemoral prostheses with powered knee joints. Leveraging the similarities between walking and stair climbing, this new approach adopts the general finite-state impedance control framework. Furthermore, important modifications are introduced to model the biomechanical characteristics that are beyond the capability of standard impedance control. The transition between the walking and stair-climbing modes is triggered through the real-time measurement of the spatial orientation of the user’s thigh, which provides a reliable indicator of the user’s intention of making such transition. This new control approach has been implemented on a powered knee prosthesis, and its effectiveness was demonstrated in human subject testing.

scholarly journals Variable Impedance Control of Powered Knee Prostheses Using Human-Inspired Algebraic Curves

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Mohammadi ◽  
Robert D. Gregg
Keyword(s):  
Algebraic Curve ◽  
Algebraic Curves ◽  
Controller Design ◽  
Impedance Control ◽  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
Knee Prostheses ◽  
Computationally Efficient ◽  
Prosthetic Joints ◽  
Hip Motion ◽  
Curve Representation

Abstract Achieving coordinated motion between transfemoral amputee patients and powered prosthetic joints is of paramount importance for powered prostheses control. In this article, we propose employing an algebraic curve representation of nominal human walking data for a powered knee prosthesis controller design. The proposed algebraic curve representation encodes the desired holonomic relationship between the human and the powered prosthetic joints with no dependence on joint velocities. For an impedance model of the knee joint motion driven by the hip angle signal, we create a continuum of equilibria along the gait cycle using a variable impedance scheme. Our variable impedance-based control law, which is designed using the parameter-dependent Lyapunov function framework, realizes the coordinated hip-knee motion with a family of spring and damper behaviors that continuously change along the human-inspired algebraic curve. In order to accommodate variability in the user's hip motion, we propose a computationally efficient radial projection-based algorithm onto the human-inspired algebraic curve in the hip-knee plane.

scholarly journals Obtaining Natural Sit-to-Stand Motion with a Biomimetic Controller for Powered Knee Prostheses

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molei Wu ◽  
Md Rejwanul Haque ◽  
Xiangrong Shen
Keyword(s):  
Control Structure ◽  
Power Delivery ◽  
Knee Prostheses ◽  
Control Approach ◽  
Prosthetic Joints ◽  
Sit To Stand ◽  
Standing Up ◽  
Common Activity ◽  
Healthy Side ◽  
Two Phases

Standing up from a seated position is a common activity in people’s daily life. However, for transfemoral (i.e., above-knee) amputees fitted with traditional passive prostheses, the sit-to-stand (STS) transition is highly challenging, due to the inability of the prosthetic joints in generating torque and power output. In this paper, the authors present a new STS control approach for powered lower limb prostheses, which is able to regulate the power delivery of the prosthetic knee joint to obtain natural STS motion similar to that displayed by healthy subjects. Mimicking the dynamic behavior of the knee in the STS, a unified control structure provides the desired control actions by combining an impedance function with a time-based ramp-up function. The former provides the gradual energy release behavior desired in the rising phase, while the latter provides the gradual energy injection behavior desired in the loading phase. This simple and intuitive control structure automates the transition between the two phases, eliminating the need for explicit phase transition and facilitating the implementation in powered prostheses. Human testing results demonstrated that this new control approach is able to generate a natural standing-up motion, which is well coordinated with the user’s healthy-side motion in the STS process.

A Pneumatic Artificial Muscle Actuated Above-Knee Prosthesis

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrett Waycaster ◽  
Sai-Kit Wu ◽  
Xiangrong Shen
Keyword(s):  
Sliding Mode ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Torque Control ◽  
Stair Climbing ◽  
Pneumatic Artificial Muscle ◽  
Control Approach ◽  
Energy Consuming ◽  
And Control

This paper describes the mechanical design and control approach for an above-knee (AK) prosthesis actuated by pneumatic artificial muscle. Pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM) affords great potential in prosthetics, since this type of actuator features a high power density, and similar characteristics to human muscles. However, there is no application of PAM in AK prosthetics in existing literature to the best knowledge of the authors. In this paper, a design of the prosthesis is presented, which provides sufficient actuation torque for the knee joint in energy consuming locomotive functions such as fast walking and stair climbing. The corresponding control approach is also presented, which combines an impedance-based locomotive controller with a lower-level sliding-mode torque control approach. Experiments on the proposed AK prosthesis have also been conducted to demonstrate the ability to mimic normal gait characteristics.

A Pneumatic Artificial Muscle Articulated Knee Prosthesis

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrett Waycaster ◽  
Sai-Kit Wu ◽  
Xiangrong Shen
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Stair Climbing ◽  
Pneumatic Artificial Muscle ◽  
Motion Controller ◽  
Control Approach ◽  
Energy Consuming ◽  
Human Motor ◽  
And Control

This paper describes the mechanical design and control approach for an above-knee (AK) prosthesis actuated by pneumatic artificial muscle. Pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM) affords great potential in prosthetics, since this type of actuator features a high power density, and similar characteristics to human muscles. However, there is no application of PAM in AK prosthetics in existing literature to the best knowledge of the authors. In this paper, a design of the prosthesis is presented, which provides sufficient actuation torque for the knee joint in energy consuming locomotive functions such as fast walking and stair climbing. The corresponding control approach is developed to mimic the human motor control in locomotive functions, which includes a lower-level equilibrium-point hypothesis-inspired motion controller, and a higher-level joint-behavior-based motion planner.

Design and Control of a Pneumatic Artificial Muscle Actuated Above-Knee Prosthesis

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrett Waycaster ◽  
Sai-Kit Wu ◽  
Xiangrong Shen
Keyword(s):  
Control Algorithm ◽  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
Radial Profile ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Torque Control ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Pneumatic Artificial Muscle ◽  
Knee Prostheses ◽  
Control Approach ◽  
Highly Nonlinear

This paper presents the authors’ investigation results of applying the pneumatic artificial muscle actuation to above-knee prostheses. As a well-known muscle actuator, the pneumatic artificial muscle actuator features a number of unique advantages, including high power density, and similar elastic characteristics to biological muscles. Despite multiple applications in related areas, the application of pneumatic artificial muscle in above-knee prostheses has not been explored. Inspired by this fact, the research presented in this paper aims to develop a pneumatic artificial muscle-actuated above-knee prosthesis, with three specific objectives: (1) demonstrate the pneumatic artificial muscle actuation’s capability in generating sufficient torque output to meet the locomotive requirements; (2) develop an effective control approach to enable the restoration of locomotive functions; (3) conduct preliminary testing of the prosthesis prototype on a healthy subject through a specially designed able-body adaptor. In the prosthesis design, an agonist–antagonist layout is utilized to obtain a bidirectional motion. To minimize the radial profile, an open-frame structure is used, with the purpose of allowing the expansion of the muscle actuators into the center space without interference. Also, the muscle actuator parameters are calculated to provide sufficient torque capacity (up to 140 N m) to meet the requirements of level walking. According to this design, the fabricated prototype weighs approximately 3 kg, with a range of motion of approximately 100°. For the control of the prosthesis, a model-based torque control algorithm is developed based on the sliding mode control approach, which provides robust torque control for this highly nonlinear system. Combining this torque control algorithm with an impedance-based torque command generator (higher-level control algorithm), the fabricated prosthesis prototype has demonstrated a capability of providing a natural gait during treadmill walking experiments.

Active Knee Prosthesis Control With Electromyography

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sai-Kit Wu ◽  
Garrett Waycaster ◽  
Xiangrong Shen
Keyword(s):  
Control Mechanism ◽  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
Knee Prostheses ◽  
Direct Control ◽  
Reactive Control ◽  
Human Motor Control ◽  
Control Approach ◽  
Human Motor ◽  
Prosthesis Control ◽  
Motion Intention

This paper describes a new electromyography (EMG) based control approach for powered above-knee prostheses. In the proposed control approach, the EMG signals are utilized as the direct control commands to the prosthesis, and thus enable the volitional control by the wearer, not only for locomotive functions, but for arbitrary motion as well. To better integrate the AK prosthesis into the rest of the human body, the control approach incorporates a human motor control mechanism-inspired ‘active-reactive’ model, which combines an active control component that reflects the wearer’s motion intention, with a reactive control component that implements the controllable impedance critical to the safe and stable interaction with the environment. The effectiveness of the proposed control approach was demonstrated through the experimental results for arbitrary free swing and level walking.

scholarly journals Sit-to-Stand Control of Powered Knee Prostheses

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molei Wu ◽  
Md Rejwanul Haque ◽  
Xiangrong Shen
Keyword(s):  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
Single Equation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Knee Prostheses ◽  
Major Barrier ◽  
Control Approach ◽  
Biomechanical Behavior ◽  
Sit To Stand ◽  
Reaction Forces ◽  
Prosthesis Control

Standing from a seated position is a common, yet dynamically challenging task. Due to the vertical ascent of the body center of gravity, sit-to-stand (STS) transition requires high torque output from the knee. As a result, STS transition poses a major barrier to the mobility of individuals with lower-limb issues, including the transfemoral (TF, also known as above-knee) amputees. A study showed that unilateral TF amputees suffer from high asymmetry in ground reaction forces (53∼69%) and knee moments (110∼124%), while the asymmetry for healthy controls is less than 7% [1]. Note that, although a powered TF prosthesis (Power Knee™) was used in this study, it generated resistance in the STS and thus produced similar results as the passive devices. The inability of existing prostheses in generating knee torque and regulating the torque delivery in the STS seriously affects the mobility of TF amputees in their daily life. Motivated by this issue, researchers have developed numerous powered TF prostheses (e.g., Vanderbilt powered TF prostheses [2]). These devices are able to generate torque and power for challenging tasks such as STS transition. Making full use of such capability, however, requires an effective controller. Currently, walking control for powered prostheses has been well established, but STS control is much less investigated. Varol et al. developed a multi-mode TF prosthesis controller, in which STS is treated as a transitional motion between sitting and standing states [2]. However, no details were provided on the rationale of the STS controller structure or the determination of the control parameters. In this paper, a new prosthesis control approach is presented, which regulates the power and torque delivery in the STS process. Inspired by the biomechanical behavior of the knee in the STS motion, the new controller provides two desired functions (gradual loading of the knee at the beginning, and automatic adjustment of the knee torque according to motion progress) with a single equation. Combined with a simple yet reliable triggering condition, the proposed control approach is able to provide natural STS motion for the powered knee prosthesis users.

Influence of Cyclic Loading on Mechanical Loosening of Hinged Knee Prostheses

1978 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. van Campen ◽  
H. W. Croon ◽  
J. Lindwer
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Cyclic Loading ◽  
Mechanical Loading ◽  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
In Vitro Experiments ◽  
Knee Prostheses ◽  
Normal Walking ◽  
Fresh Cadaver ◽  
Unfavourable Effect

A combined theoretical and experimental investigation is reported with respect to the influence of mechanical loading on loosening at the cement bone interface of knee prostheses with intermedullary stems. The in vitro experiments have been performed under cyclic loading conditions with the tibial part of a Shiers knee prosthesis implanted in fresh cadaver tibiae. The experimental results indicate an unfavourable effect of peak loading (as occurring in walking up stairs) on loosening as compared with loading due to normal walking conditions.

scholarly journals Design and evaluation of a hybrid passive–active knee prosthesis on energy consumption

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 425-436
Author(s):  
Xiaoming Wang ◽  
Qiaoling Meng ◽  
Zhewen Zhang ◽  
Jinyue Sun ◽  
Jie Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
Metabolic Cost ◽  
Knee Prostheses ◽  
Hydraulic Damper ◽  
Operating Modes ◽  
Gait Characteristics ◽  
Energy Consumption Model ◽  
Active Motor ◽  
Damping Torque

Abstract. The existing lower limb prostheses with passive knees have disadvantages, causing an asymmetric gait and higher metabolic cost during level walking which is in contrast with a normal gait. However, most existing active knee prostheses need a significant amount of energy. In this paper, a novel hybrid passive–active knee prosthesis (HPAK) that allows passive and active operating modes is proposed, which contains an active motor unit and a novel hydraulic damper with an electrically controlled valve that adjusts the damping torque dynamically during each gait cycle. An energy consumption model was built to evaluate the energy consumption when walking on level ground in three different simulation conditions to, respectively, simulate the complete HPAK, an ordinary active prosthesis (AKP) and an ordinary passive prosthesis (PKP). The results show that, in a cycle, the HPAK consumes only 16.19 J, which is 3.6 times lower than the AKP (58.95 J), and the PKP consumes only 1.24 J due to the novel spring–hydraulic damper structure designed and presented in this paper. These results indicate that the proposed novel hybrid passive–active knee prosthesis can have a positive effect on reducing energy consumption and improving the approximation of healthy gait characteristics when walking on level ground, contrasting with active or passive knee prostheses.

scholarly journals Development and Examination of a Knee Prosthesis Geometry

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-30
Author(s):  
Gábor Péter Balassa
Keyword(s):  
Knee Joint ◽  
Research Team ◽  
Knee Prosthesis ◽  
Experimental Measurements ◽  
Joint Movement ◽  
Knee Prostheses ◽  
Healthy Human ◽  
Human Knee ◽  
Human Knee Joint ◽  
Number Of Patients

Abstract The necessity for the knee prosthesis is confirmed by the large increase in the number of patients suffering from arthrosis, which is a present-day disease. Despite this need, there doesn’t exist an optimal knee prosthesis. Nowadays the development of the knee prostheses is progressing. It is very difficult to define the required geometry with traditional methods, because the movement conditions to be created by the prostheses should be similar to the movements of the human knee. During previous research the biomechanical research team of the Szent István University occupied with experimental measurements of the healthy human knee joint movement. In this paper I would like to introduce a method of prosthesis geometry development. As a result, a knee prosthesis geometry has been created which is approaching the movement form of the real human knee joint.

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