scholarly journals Design of a 2DoF Ankle Exoskeleton with a Polycentric Structure and a Bi-Directional Tendon-Driven Actuator Controlled Using a PID Neural Network

Actuators ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Taehoon Lee ◽  
Inwoo Kim ◽  
Yoon Su Baek

Lower limb exoskeleton robots help with walking movements through mechanical force, by identifying the wearer’s walking intention. When the exoskeleton robot is lightweight and comfortable to wear, the stability of walking increases, and energy can be used efficiently. However, because it is difficult to implement the complex anatomical movements of the human body, most are designed simply. Due to this, misalignment between the human and robot movement causes the wearer to feel uncomfortable, and the stability of walking is reduced. In this paper, we developed a two degrees of freedom (2DoF) ankle exoskeleton robot with a subtalar joint and a talocrural joint, applying a four-bar linkage to realize the anatomical movement of a simple 1DoF structure mainly used for ankles. However, bidirectional tendon-driven actuators (BTDAs) do not consider the difference in a length change of both cables due to dorsiflexion (DF) and plantar flexion (PF) during walking, causing misalignment. To solve this problem, a BTDA was developed by considering the length change of both cables. Cable-driven actuators and exoskeleton robot systems create uncertainty. Accordingly, adaptive control was performed with a proportional-integral-differential neural network (PIDNN) controller to minimize system uncertainty.

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 2807
Author(s):  
Taehoon Lee ◽  
Inwoo Kim ◽  
Soo-Hong Lee

A lower-limb exoskeleton robot identifies the wearer′s walking intention and assists the walking movement through mechanical force; thus, it is important to be able to identify the wearer′s movement in real-time. Measurement of the angle of the knee and ankle can be difficult in the case of patients who cannot move the lower-limb joint properly. Therefore, in this study, the knee angle as well as the angles of the talocrural and subtalar joints of the ankle were estimated during walking by applying the neural network to two inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors attached to the thigh and shank. First, for angle estimation, the gyroscope and accelerometer data of the IMU sensor were obtained while walking at a treadmill speed of 1 to 2.5 km/h while wearing an exoskeleton robot. The weights according to each walking speed were calculated using a neural network algorithm programmed in MATLAB software. Second, an appropriate weight was selected according to the walking speed through the IMU data, and the knee angle and the angles of the talocrural and subtalar joints of the ankle were estimated in real-time during walking through a feedforward neural network using the IMU data received in real-time. We confirmed that the angle estimation error was accurately estimated as 1.69° ± 1.43 (mean absolute error (MAE) ± standard deviation (SD)) for the knee joint, 1.29° ± 1.01 for the talocrural joint, and 0.82° ± 0.69 for the subtalar joint. Therefore, the proposed algorithm has potential for gait rehabilitation as it addresses the difficulty of estimating angles of lower extremity patients using torque and EMG sensors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 537-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung Hoon Hwang ◽  
Seung Chan Lee ◽  
Dong Bin Shin ◽  
Bum Soo Kim ◽  
Chang Soo Han

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chujun Liu ◽  
Musa L. Audu ◽  
Ronald J. Triolo ◽  
Roger D. Quinn

Our group is developing a cyber-physical walking system (CPWS) for people paralyzed by spinal cord injuries (SCI). The current CPWS consists of a functional neuromuscular stimulation (FNS) system and a powered lower-limb exoskeleton for walking with leg movements in the sagittal plane. We are developing neural control systems that learn to assist the user of this CPWS to walk with stability. In a previous publication (Liu et al., Biomimetics, 2019, 4, 28), we showed a neural controller that stabilized a simulated biped in the sagittal plane. We are considering adding degrees of freedom to the CPWS to allow more natural walking movements and improved stability. Thus, in this paper, we present a new neural network enhanced control system that stabilizes a three-dimensional simulated biped model of a human wearing an exoskeleton. Results show that it stabilizes human/exoskeleton models and is robust to impact disturbances. The simulated biped walks at a steady pace in a range of typical human ambulatory speeds from 0.7 to 1.3 m/s, follows waypoints at a precision of 0.3 m, remains stable, and continues walking forward despite impact disturbances and adapts its speed to compensate for persistent external disturbances. Furthermore, the neural network controller stabilizes human models of different statures from 1.4 to 2.2 m tall without any changes to the control parameters. Please see videos at the following link: 3D biped walking control.


Robotica ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Vukobratović ◽  
B. Borovac ◽  
V. Potkonjak

The intention of this paper is to contribute towards a unified understanding of the basic notions and terms in the domain of humanoid robotics, having in mind that the same notions are sometimes interpreted in different ways (some interpretations are contradictory, and some even erroneous). Hence, the first part of the paper is devoted to defining some basic notions, walk and gait being among the first. Then, the paper deals with the notion of dynamic balance and stability, particularly the difference between them, since these essentially different notions are often confused and, rarely, regarded as identical. As dynamic balance is directly related to the notion of zero-moment point (ZMP), it was necessary to touch upon some misunderstandings concerning the ZMP. Gait stability is an especially delicate category, as humanoid locomotion systems have certain specific features that are not possessed by other systems. Namely, because of external disturbances, there may appear unpowered (passive) degrees of freedom that cause loss of dynamic balance. Hence, these unpowered degrees of freedom cannot be overlooked in the stability analysis. As the stability of motion of humanoid robots is inseparably linked with control, it was also necessary to pay due attention to this notion. Finally, the paper ends with a discussion of posture and postural stability with all their specificities. The authors hope that this paper will contribute to a clearer understanding of the basic notions of humanoid robotics, especially concerning robots with high dynamic and control performances.


1975 ◽  
Vol 34 (02) ◽  
pp. 426-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Kahan ◽  
I Nohén

SummaryIn 4 collaborative trials, involving a varying number of hospital laboratories in the Stockholm area, the coagulation activity of different test materials was estimated with the one-stage prothrombin tests routinely used in the laboratories, viz. Normotest, Simplastin-A and Thrombotest. The test materials included different batches of a lyophilized reference plasma, deep-frozen specimens of diluted and undiluted normal plasmas, and fresh and deep-frozen specimens from patients on long-term oral anticoagulant therapy.Although a close relationship was found between different methods, Simplastin-A gave consistently lower values than Normotest, the difference being proportional to the estimated activity. The discrepancy was of about the same magnitude on all the test materials, and was probably due to a divergence between the manufacturers’ procedures used to set “normal percentage activity”, as well as to a varying ratio of measured activity to plasma concentration. The extent of discrepancy may vary with the batch-to-batch variation of thromboplastin reagents.The close agreement between results obtained on different test materials suggests that the investigated reference plasma could be used to calibrate the examined thromboplastin reagents, and to compare the degree of hypocoagulability estimated by the examined PIVKA-insensitive thromboplastin reagents.The assigned coagulation activity of different batches of the reference plasma agreed closely with experimentally obtained values. The stability of supplied batches was satisfactory as judged from the reproducibility of repeated measurements. The variability of test procedures was approximately the same on different test materials.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Spezia ◽  
Hichem Dammak

<div> <div> <div> <p>In the present work we have investigated the possibility of using the Quantum Thermal Bath (QTB) method in molecular simulations of unimolecular dissociation processes. Notably, QTB is aimed in introducing quantum nuclear effects with a com- putational time which is basically the same as in newtonian simulations. At this end we have considered the model fragmentation of CH4 for which an analytical function is present in the literature. Moreover, based on the same model a microcanonical algorithm which monitor zero-point energy of products, and eventually modifies tra- jectories, was recently proposed. We have thus compared classical and quantum rate constant with these different models. QTB seems to correctly reproduce some quantum features, in particular the difference between classical and quantum activation energies, making it a promising method to study unimolecular fragmentation of much complex systems with molecular simulations. The role of QTB thermostat on rotational degrees of freedom is also analyzed and discussed. </p> </div> </div> </div>


Author(s):  
Ю.И. Цой

Задача получения однородного состава ЛКМ сводится к правильному выбору пленкообразователей и соответствующих растворителей и, в случае необходимости, разбавителей и добавок. На основе положений теории растворимости была проведена оценка совместимости компонентов и стабильности таких систем. Критериями оценки были приняты параметры растворимости и термодинамического взаимодействия. Исследовали совместимость алкидных лаков с аминоформальдегидными смолами в бутаноле, и результаты этих исследований представлены в треугольной фазовой диаграмме. Для оценки совместимости смол по результатам расчета параметров термодинамического взаимодействия были построены спинодали для тройных систем. Как показывает анализ результатов проведенных исследований, даже при большой разности ?? = |?12 – ?13| = 0,2 наблюдается небольшая область несовместимости. С уменьшением разности ?? область несовместимости сужается. При ?23 > ?с область несовместимости расширяется как для ? = 0,2, так и для ?? = 0,1 и ?? = 0. Таким образом, для таких систем на совместимость компонентов, в первую очередь, влияет их взаимодействие между собой – чем оно больше, тем лучше они совместимы. Проведенные исследования показали, что парциальные параметры растворимости, учитывающие природу когезионных сил, более объективно характеризуют растворимость пленкообразующих смол в органических растворителях, чем их общий параметр растворимости. Растворимость пленкообразующих алкидных и этерифицированных аминоформальдегидных смол в органических растворителях обусловлена термодинамическим взаимодействием молекулярных сил различной природы. Стабильность смеси алкидной и этерифицированной аминоформальдегидной смолы в бутаноле обусловлена в большей степени термодинамическим взаимодействием молекулярных сил; при этом степень бутанолизации меламиноформальдегидной смолы оказывает наибольшее влияние на стабильность cистемы. Проведенные исследования по стабильности лакокрасочных смесей из различных пленкообразующих смол на основе рассмотренных критериев оценки могут быть использованы для совершенствования технологии защитно-декоративной отделки древесины. The problem of obtaining a homogeneous composition of the coatings is reduced to the proper selection of film-forming agents, and diluent and, if appropriate, diluents and additives. On the basis of the theory of solubility, we have carried out the assessment of the compatibility of the components and stability of such systems. The evaluation criteria were adopted the parameters of the solubility and thermodynamic interaction. Researched the compatibility with alkyd varnishes aminoformaldehyde resin in butanol, and the results of these studies are presented in the triangular phase diagram. To evaluate the compatibility of the resins according to the results of calculation of thermodynamic parameters of interaction were built spinodal for ternary systems. As the analysis of the results of the studies, even when the difference ??|?12 – ?13| = 0,2 there is a small area of incompatibility. With the decrease of the difference ? ? region incompatibility narrows. When ?23> ?с region incompatibility extends to ?? = 0,2, and for ?? = 0.1 and ?? = 0. Thus, for such systems, compatibility of components, primarily, affects their interaction with each other – the further away it is, the better they are compatible. Studies have shown that the partial solubility parameters, which take into account the nature of cohesive forces, more objectively characterize the solubility of film-forming resins in organic solvents than their total solubility parameter. The solubility and film-forming aminoformaldehyde esterified alkyd resins in organic solvents due to thermodynamic interaction of molecular forces of different nature. Тhe stability of the mixture and aminoformaldehyde esterified alkyd resin in butanol is generated largely by thermodynamic forces of molecular interaction; the degree of butanolate melamine-formaldehyde resin has the greatest effect on the stability of the system. Conducted research on the stability of the paint mixtures of various film-forming resins on the basis of the evaluation criteria can be used to improve the technology of protective and decorative wood finish.


Author(s):  
Yong Wang

The purpose of this study is to explore the stability and interaction between parental pressure and social research report, as well as the role of employment status and family income levels in this process. This study used a special study on Korean children (PSKC) 2–4 waves. Use t-test, correlation and autoregressive cross-delay modeling to analyze the data. The main findings of this study are: First, over time, parental pressure and mother’s social research report are consistent. Secondly, the pressure of motherhood and childcare has an obvious lagging effect on upbringing, and vice versa. Third, there is no significant difference between working mothers and non-working mothers in terms of the stability of working parents' pressure, social research report and social research report for children's pressure channels. However, parental pressure can only predict the social research report of working mothers. Fourth, there is no significant difference between the stability and interaction of these two structures in household income levels. In short, the results show that, over time, parental pressure is consistent with mother’s social research report. The results also show that there is a significant cross-lag effect between the mothers’ perceptions of mutual pressure analysis. In the process from parental pressure to social research report, I found the difference between working and non-working mothers. The advantage of this study is that the expected longitudinal design was adopted during infancy and the priority between the two structures can be considered. The results of this study can be used as a source of intervention plans to help parents withstand severe parenting pressure and lack of social research report.


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