Development of an Ankle Sensor for Ground Reaction Force Measurement in Intelligent Prosthesis

Abstract

In this study, a new low-cost, three-degree-of-freedom force sensor is developed to measure Ground Reaction Forces (GRFs) and to be used in the safe control of active transfemoral prosthesis. Initially, the proposed sensor was designed with the Finite Element Method (FEM). Then, the sensor's control board was developed to include an electronic circuit with its microcontroller module, four load cell amplifiers, and an orientation sensor. A test platform was also developed to conduct the sensor tests. To test the accuracy of the results obtained from the developed test platform, the same tests were also carried out with a commercial sensor and similar results were obtained, thus proving that the sensor is suitable for use in prosthetics.