Gait analysis for a human with a robot walking helper

Abstract

With the growth of elderly population in our society, intelligent walking aids will play an important role in providing functional mobility to humans. In this paper, we propose a model to compute gait of humans walking with a robot helper. This model is aimed at designing a control system for the robot walking helper. The human model includes both the single support phase and impacts. Since a human will be walking along with the robot with its help, geometrical constraints and interaction forces are included. To achieve stable walking, zero moment point (ZMP) is utilized in the analysis and friction constraint is included within the reaction force from the ground. Simulations are performed to obtain optimal gait trajectories, the human applied joint torques, and the supporting forces from the robot walking helper. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.