Dynamic Walking Models to Understand Asymmetric Gait Characteristics

Passive dynamic walking models remarkably predict gait behaviour such as walk-run transition speeds, preferred step length, stride frequencies and - with the inclusion of springs - ground reaction forces. Muscular or neurological conditions may lead to asymmetric walking characteristics that, in turn, come with long term health risks. Gait analysis may be used to understand an individual patient’s conditions to help rehabilitate them. However, people adapt their kinematic and kinetic walking patterns so it can be hard to distinguish the effects of gait alterations such as inertial imbalance or injury. In this thesis a compass walking model with no active controllers is explored to understand the dynamics of gait. To help us interpret the effects of mass imbalance with a prosthetic foot or orthotic device, asymmetric loading conditions are investigated. A simple spring-mass walking model is used to explore the effects of altered touch-down angles and effective leg stiffness to see if these are used as strategies to alter the characteristics of gait. Results show that an asymmetric touch-down angle alters step length while retaining a symmetric stance time. A hybrid model is then derived with springs to emulate human-like ground reaction forces and asymmetric inertial loading of the legs. Results support previous research that push-off from the trailing leg propels the leg mass more than the body mass. Higher rates of joint forces, larger step lengths and a longer stance time on the residual limb may be due to the prosthetic leg stiffness or the higher location of centre-of-mass. These results help us understand how the dynamic components affect gait characteristics such as step length, stance time and walking speeds. This work is motivated by the needs of persons with disabilities and by the desire to understand human walking

Design Issues for Hexapod Walking Robots

Hexapod walking robots have attracted considerable attention for several decades. Many studies have been carried out in research centers, universities and industries. However, only in the recent past have efficient walking machines been conceived, designed and built with performances that can be suitable for practical applications. This paper gives an overview of the state of the art on hexapod walking robots by referring both to the early design solutions and the most recent achievements. Careful attention is given to the main design issues and constraints that influence the technical feasibility and operation performance. A design procedure is outlined in order to systematically design a hexapod walking robot. In particular, the proposed design procedure takes into account the main features, such as mechanical structure and leg configuration, actuating and driving systems, payload, motion conditions, and walking gait. A case study is described in order to show the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed design procedure

Lunar Polar Coring Lander

Plans to build a lunar base are presently being studied with a number of considerations. One of the most important considerations is qualifying the presence of water on the Moon. The existence of water on the Moon implies that future lunar settlements may be able to use this resource to produce things such as drinking water and rocket fuel. Due to the very high cost of transporting these materials to the Moon, in situ production could save billions of dollars in operating costs of the lunar base. Scientists have suggested that the polar regions of the Moon may contain some amounts of water ice in the regolith. Six possible mission scenarios are suggested which would allow lunar polar soil samples to be collected for analysis. The options presented are: remote sensing satellite, two unmanned robotic lunar coring missions (one is a sample return and one is a data return only), two combined manned and robotic polar coring missions, and one fully manned core retrieval mission. One of the combined manned and robotic missions has been singled out for detailed analysis. This mission proposes sending at least three unmanned robotic landers to the lunar pole to take core samples as deep as 15 meters. Upon successful completion of the coring operations, a manned mission would be sent to retrieve the samples and perform extensive experiments of the polar region. Man's first step in returning to the Moon is recommended to investigate the issue of lunar polar water. The potential benefits of lunar water more than warrant sending either astronauts, robots or both to the Moon before any permanent facility is constructed

Locomation strategies for amphibious robots-a review

In the past two decades, unmanned amphibious robots have proven the most promising and efficient systems ranging from scientific, military, and commercial applications. The applications like monitoring, surveillance, reconnaissance, and military combat operations require platforms to maneuver on challenging, complex, rugged terrains and diverse environments. The recent technological advancements and development in aquatic robotics and mobile robotics have facilitated a more agile, robust, and efficient amphibious robots maneuvering in multiple environments and various terrain profiles. Amphibious robot locomotion inspired by nature, such as amphibians, offers augmented flexibility, improved adaptability, and higher mobility over terrestrial, aquatic, and aerial mediums. In this review, amphibious robots' locomotion mechanism designed and developed previously are consolidated, systematically The review also analyzes the literature on amphibious robot highlighting the limitations, open research areas, recent key development in this research field. Further development and contributions to amphibious robot locomotion, actuation, and control can be utilized to perform specific missions in sophisticated environments, where tasks are unsafe or hardly feasible for the divers or traditional aquatic and terrestrial robots

An Overview of Legged Robots

The objective of this paper is to present the evolution and the state-of-theart in the area of legged locomotion systems. In a first phase different possibilities for mobile robots are discussed, namely the case of artificial legged locomotion systems, while emphasizing their advantages and limitations. In a second phase an historical overview of the evolution of these systems is presented, bearing in mind several particular cases often considered as milestones on the technological and scientific progress. After this historical timeline, some of the present day systems are examined and their performance is analyzed. In a third phase are pointed out the major areas for research and development that are presently being followed in the construction of legged robots. Finally, some of the problems still unsolved, that remain defying robotics research, are also addressed.N/

Proceedings of the 8th Annual Summer Conference: NASA/USRA Advanced Design Program

Papers presented at the 8th Annual Summer Conference are categorized as Space Projects and Aeronautics projects. Topics covered include: Systematic Propulsion Optimization Tools (SPOT), Assured Crew Return Vehicle Post Landing Configuration Design and Test, Autonomous Support for Microorganism Research in Space, Bioregenerative System Components for Microgravity, The Extended Mission Rover (EMR), Planetary Surface Exploration MESUR/Autonomous Lunar Rover, Automation of Closed Environments in Space for Human Comfort and Safety, Walking Robot Design, Extraterrestrial Surface Propulsion Systems, The Design of Four Hypersonic Reconnaissance Aircraft, Design of a Refueling Tanker Delivering Liquid Hydrogen, The Design of a Long-Range Megatransport Aircraft, and Solar Powered Multipurpose Remotely Powered Aircraft

Bio-Inspired Robotics

Modern robotic technologies have enabled robots to operate in a variety of unstructured and dynamically-changing environments, in addition to traditional structured environments. Robots have, thus, become an important element in our everyday lives. One key approach to develop such intelligent and autonomous robots is to draw inspiration from biological systems. Biological structure, mechanisms, and underlying principles have the potential to provide new ideas to support the improvement of conventional robotic designs and control. Such biological principles usually originate from animal or even plant models, for robots, which can sense, think, walk, swim, crawl, jump or even fly. Thus, it is believed that these bio-inspired methods are becoming increasingly important in the face of complex applications. Bio-inspired robotics is leading to the study of innovative structures and computing with sensory–motor coordination and learning to achieve intelligence, flexibility, stability, and adaptation for emergent robotic applications, such as manipulation, learning, and control. This Special Issue invites original papers of innovative ideas and concepts, new discoveries and improvements, and novel applications and business models relevant to the selected topics of ``Bio-Inspired Robotics''. Bio-Inspired Robotics is a broad topic and an ongoing expanding field. This Special Issue collates 30 papers that address some of the important challenges and opportunities in this broad and expanding field

Design of a robot for gait rehabilitation

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2009.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references.The ability to walk is important for independent living and when this capacity is affected by injury, gait therapy is the traditional approach to re-train the nervous system, to re-build muscle strength, to improve balance, and to re-train kinematics in order to reduce the stresses applied to bones and muscles. The importance of this problem is illustrated by the approximately 5.8 million stroke survivors alive in the US today and an estimated 700,000 strokes occurring each year. In fact, for stroke survivors with mild to moderate impairment, only 37% regain the ability to walk within one week post-stroke and 73% fall within the first six months. Falls are a leading cause of injury among Americans over 65 years old with over one third of this population experiencing a fall each year and an unsteady gait increases this risk. This growing population will require gait therapy. This thesis presents the design, development, fabrication, and proof-of-concept testing for a novel device to deliver gait therapy. While robotic devices exist, none of them take advantage of the concept of passive walkers and most focus on reproducing gait kinematics for impaired patients. Yet research has found that appropriate neural input is an important factor in efficacious therapy. For gait, this input would be the collision between the foot and the ground at heel-strike. The goal of this novel device is to allow patients to begin gait therapy before they are able to independently walk overground while maximizing the amount interface driven neural input during stepping in a safe environment.by Caitlyn Joyce Bosecker.S.M

Small business innovation research. Abstracts of completed 1987 phase 1 projects

Non-proprietary summaries of Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects supported by NASA in the 1987 program year are given. Work in the areas of aeronautical propulsion, aerodynamics, acoustics, aircraft systems, materials and structures, teleoperators and robotics, computer sciences, information systems, spacecraft systems, spacecraft power supplies, spacecraft propulsion, bioastronautics, satellite communication, and space processing are covered

Watch your step! Towards predicting osteoarthritis onset based on side-to-side imbalances

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating disease characterized by the erosion of articular cartilage at the extremity of bones. OA contributes to economic burdens, pain, and abnormal locomotion to accommodate for loss of protective cartilage. Since there is no cure for OA, mitigating disease onset can relieve the lives of millions of people who are at higher risk of OA such as females and overweight people.The progressive disappearance of protective cartilage leads to bone-on-bone contact at the joints, which is aggravated by higher-than-normal joint contact forces. Although OA can affect any joint, the primary weight-bearing joints of the lower body, i.e. hip, knee, and ankle, suffer the most impairment. Thus, investigating walking behavior can aid in detecting abnormal locomotion that may lead to OA.The objectives of this study were (1) to investigate a simple mechanical model’s ability to accurately reproduce measured gait kinetics and (2) to propose and evaluate novel parameters to supplement current noninvasive clinical tools for gait analysis.For a total of forty healthy subjects, kinematic and kinetic parameters were optimized for 300 consecutive steps to fit experimental vertical ground reaction force data measured during treadmill walking. Using an existing inverted spring-loaded pendulum with a spring-loaded ankle, we assessed the variations in leg and ankle stiffnesses during gait. We quantified bilateral lower limb symmetry, gait regularity, and gait variability based on the optimized stiffness values, which highlighted gait disparities between males and females, and between different body mass index categories.Our results confirmed that all subjects exhibited a certain amount of side-to-side asymmetry, irregularity, and variability in their leg and ankle stiffnesses during walking. Furthermore, large inter-subject variability indicated that our simple model could detect idiosyncratic gait patterns and therefore estimate potential imbalances in gait patterns. Future studies to test these walking assessments with accelerations as input parameters, which are easier to measure in a clinical setting, can improve current screenings for OA