Experimental studies on kinematics and kinetics of walking with an assistive knee brace

Assistive knee brace is a species of wearable lower extremity exoskeletons. Such assistive equipment can enhance people's strength and provide desired locomotion to have advantages over wheelchairs, which are commonly used for patients with mobility disorders. However, the integration between the assistive knee brace and the user is challenging as inaccurate alignments may adversely affect the biomechanics of the knee joint. The goal of this study is to evaluate the changes between normal walking and walking with an assistive knee brace in "off" mode. The assistive knee brace was developed by integrating a multifunctional actuator with a custom-made knee-ankle-foot orthosis in order to minimize excessive shifting and to improve alignment to the knee joint. Spatial and temporal gait parameters, joint kinematics and joint kinetics parameters were compared. In general, the observed results showed that most of the gait parameters were not affected when walking with the knee brace. The only significant differences were found in knee flexion and knee rotational motions. These results indicated that walking with the developed knee brace provided minimal hindrance to the user and assured that assistive torque can be applied to the knee joint

Gait analysis for designing a new assistive knee brace

Assistive knee brace is a species of wearable lower extremity exoskeletons. In this research, an assistive knee brace was developed by integrating a multifunctional actuator with a custom-made knee-ankle-foot orthosis. In the study, the location of the actuator is moved up to the lateral side of the hip, instead of knee joint. Waist belt and shoulder belt are appended on the knee brace. This paper aimed to improve the design of the assistive knee braces through gait analysis. By walking with the knee braces, the spatial and temporal gait parameters, joint kinematics and joint kinetics parameters were evaluated, and the changes from normal walking were compared as well. The experimental results showed that walking with the developed knee brace provided minimal hindrance to the wearer. © 2011 IEEE

State of the art of control schemes for smart systems featuring magneto-rheological materials

This review presents various control strategies for application systems utilizing smart magneto-rheological fluid (MRF) and magneto-rheological elastomers (MRE). It is well known that both MRF and MRE are actively studied and applied to many practical systems such as vehicle dampers. The mandatory requirements for successful applications of MRF and MRE include several factors: advanced material properties, optimal mechanisms, suitable modeling, and appropriate control schemes. Among these requirements, the use of an appropriate control scheme is a crucial factor since it is the final action stage of the application systems to achieve the desired output responses. There are numerous different control strategies which have been applied to many different application systems of MRF and MRE, summarized in this review. In the literature review, advantages and disadvantages of each control scheme are discussed so that potential researchers can develop more effective strategies to achieve higher control performance of many application systems utilizing magneto-rheological materials

Proceedings of the ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics 2015

This volume contains the full papers accepted for presentation at the ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics 2015 held in the Barcelona School of Industrial Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, on June 29 - July 2, 2015. The ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics is an international meeting held once every two years in a European country. Continuing the very successful series of past conferences that have been organized in Lisbon (2003), Madrid (2005), Milan (2007), Warsaw (2009), Brussels (2011) and Zagreb (2013); this edition will once again serve as a meeting point for the international researchers, scientists and experts from academia, research laboratories and industry working in the area of multibody dynamics. Applications are related to many fields of contemporary engineering, such as vehicle and railway systems, aeronautical and space vehicles, robotic manipulators, mechatronic and autonomous systems, smart structures, biomechanical systems and nanotechnologies. The topics of the conference include, but are not restricted to: ● Formulations and Numerical Methods ● Efficient Methods and Real-Time Applications ● Flexible Multibody Dynamics ● Contact Dynamics and Constraints ● Multiphysics and Coupled Problems ● Control and Optimization ● Software Development and Computer Technology ● Aerospace and Maritime Applications ● Biomechanics ● Railroad Vehicle Dynamics ● Road Vehicle Dynamics ● Robotics ● Benchmark ProblemsPostprint (published version

Proceedings of the 2018 Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME) International Congress

Published proceedings of the 2018 Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME) International Congress, hosted by York University, 27-30 May 2018

Multibody dynamics 2015

This volume contains the full papers accepted for presentation at the ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics 2015 held in the Barcelona School of Industrial Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, on June 29 - July 2, 2015. The ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics is an international meeting held once every two years in a European country. Continuing the very successful series of past conferences that have been organized in Lisbon (2003), Madrid (2005), Milan (2007), Warsaw (2009), Brussels (2011) and Zagreb (2013); this edition will once again serve as a meeting point for the international researchers, scientists and experts from academia, research laboratories and industry working in the area of multibody dynamics. Applications are related to many fields of contemporary engineering, such as vehicle and railway systems, aeronautical and space vehicles, robotic manipulators, mechatronic and autonomous systems, smart structures, biomechanical systems and nanotechnologies. The topics of the conference include, but are not restricted to: Formulations and Numerical Methods, Efficient Methods and Real-Time Applications, Flexible Multibody Dynamics, Contact Dynamics and Constraints, Multiphysics and Coupled Problems, Control and Optimization, Software Development and Computer Technology, Aerospace and Maritime Applications, Biomechanics, Railroad Vehicle Dynamics, Road Vehicle Dynamics, Robotics, Benchmark Problems. The conference is organized by the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) in Barcelona. The organizers would like to thank the authors for submitting their contributions, the keynote lecturers for accepting the invitation and for the quality of their talks, the awards and scientific committees for their support to the organization of the conference, and finally the topic organizers for reviewing all extended abstracts and selecting the awards nominees.Postprint (published version

CUHK electronic theses & dissertations collection

In this research, a novel magnetorheological (MR) fluids based multifunctional actuator for assistive knee braces is designed. To decrease the dimension of the actuation device while enhancing its perfonnances, a motor and MR fluids are integrated into a single device. With MR fluids, the actuator possesses multiple functions as motor, clutch, and brake while meeting the requirement of nonnal human motion as well. In this thesis, design details and operating principle of the actuator are illustrated, and possible configurations of the motor part and clutch/brake part are discussed. Finite element method is utilized to analyze the magnetic circuits, influence of pennanent magnet on MR fluids, and magnetic flux distribution. Different clutch/brake parts with various inner coils are compared and analyzed, followed by a design optimization to improve the output torque. Prototypes of the multifunctional actuator are fabricated and tested, and characteristics of each function are investigated. As the actuator has multiple functions, modeling is developed for different functions, and system identification is carried out to determine the parameters. Adaptive control is utilized to control the actuator for torque and speed tracking. A smart joint using such a multifunctional actuator is designed, and its prototype is fabricated and tested. Power consumptions of knee brace using the smart joint are investigated during normal walking cycle. The results show that the developed actuator and smart joint are promising to be used in assistive knee braces.Guo, Hongtao.Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-03, Section: B, page: .Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-158).Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.Abstract also in Chinese