Articulación con rigidez controlable y dispositivo de medición de fuerza

El objeto de la invención es una articulación (1) con rigidez controlable y medición de fuerza, comprende un primer dispositivo (20), que comprende un marco (4) con una cara curva, conectado con un primer elemento motor (2), realizando este primer dispositivo (20) la regulación de la posición de la articulación (1), y un segundo dispositivo (22) que regula la rigidez de la articulación (1), que comprende un elemento de empuje (15) cuyo desplazamiento (D) determina una pre-compresión de un elemento resistivo (11) determinando de este modo la rigidez de la articulación (1), y el primer elemento motor (2) proporciona un giro al marco (4) tal que una rueda (8) del segundo dispositivo (22) recorre la cara curva del marco (4) generando una compresión (C) del elemento resistivo (11) a través de una barra de transmisión (7) asociada a dicha rueda (8) y al elemento resistivo (11)Peer reviewedConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Politécnica de MadridB1 Patente sin examen previ

Analyzing energy-efficient configurations in hexapod robots for demining applications

Purpose – Reducing energy consumption in walking robots is an issue of great importance in field applications such as humanitarian demining so as to increase mission time for a given power supply. The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of improving energy efficiency in statically stable walking machines by comparing two leg, insect and mammal, configurations on the hexapod robotic platform SILO6. Design/methodology/approach – Dynamic simulation of this hexapod is used to develop a set of rules that optimize energy expenditure in both configurations. Later, through a theoretical analysis of energy consumption and experimental measurements in the real platform SILO6, a configuration is chosen. Findings – It is widely accepted that the mammal configuration in statically stable walking machines is better for supporting high loads, while the insect configuration is considered to be better for improving mobility. However, taking into account the leg dynamics and not only the body weight, different results are obtained. In a mammal configuration, supporting body weight accounts for 5 per cent of power consumption while leg dynamics accounts for 31 per cent. Originality/value – As this paper demonstrates, the energy expended when the robot walks along a straight and horizontal line is the same for both insect and mammal configurations, while power consumption during crab walking in an insect configuration exceeds power consumption in the mammal configuration

Control architecture of the ATLAS 2020 lower-limb active orthosis

This paper outlines the control details implemented in the wearable gait exoskeleton ATLAS 2020 for improving the therapy of SMA children. This paper discusses the control challenges of a gait-training wearable exoskeleton for SMA children. Such device would also increase these children's quality of life, achieving a reduction of disability and increased functional independence.Peer reviewe

Control motion approach of a lower limb orthosis to reduce energy consumption

By analysing the dynamic principles of the human gait, an economic gait‐control analysis is performed, and passive elements are included to increase the energy efficiency in the motion control of active orthoses. Traditional orthoses use position patterns from the clinical gait analyses (CGAs) of healthy people, which are then de‐normalized and adjusted to each user. These orthoses maintain a very rigid gait, and their energy cosT is very high, reducing the autonomy of the user. First, to take advantage of the inherent dynamics of the legs, a state machine pattern with different gains in eachstate is applied to reduce the actuator energy consumption. Next, different passive elements, such as springs and brakes in the joints, are analysed to further reduce energy consumption. After an off‐line parameter optimization and a heuristic improvement with genetic algorithms, a reduction in energy consumption of 16.8% is obtained by applying a state machine control pattern, and a reduction of 18.9% is obtained by using passive elements. Finally, by combining both strategies, a more natural gait is obtained, and energy consumption is reduced by 24.6%compared with a pure CGA pattern

Andador con mecanismo de asistencia en operaciones de levantado y sentado de un usuario

Andador (1) con mecanismo de asistencia en operaciones de levantado y sentado de un usuario (21) que comprende una estructura de soporte dotada de medios de desplazamiento (2, 3), un dispositivo de sujeción (20) del usuario al andador y un sistema de bloqueo de los medios de desplazamiento, donde la estructura de soporte comprende al menos un brazo pivotante (14) que guía al dispositivo de sujeción (20) del usuario (21), un soporte guía (11) fijado al andador (1) y que guía al brazo (14) y un módulo de control (15) que controla el sistema de bloqueo de los medios de desplazamiento (2,3) y que comprende medios de selección de un modo de trabajo del andador seleccionado entre “modo andar” y “modo sentarse/levantarse”Peer reviewedConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Politécnica de MadridB1 Patente sin examen previ

Identifying ground-robot impedance to improve terrain adaptability in running robots

To date, running robots are still outperformed by animals, but their dynamic behaviour can be described by the same model. This coincidence means that biomechanical studies can reveal much about the adaptability and energy efficiency of walking mechanisms. In particular, animals adjust their leg stiffness to negotiate terrains with different stiffnesses to keep the total leg-ground stiffness constant. In this work, we aim to provide one method to identify ground-robot impedance so that control can be applied to emulate the aforementioned animal behaviour. Experimental results of the method are presented, showing well-differentiated estimations on four different types of terrain. Additionally, an analysis of the convergence time is presented and compared with the contact time of humans while running, indicating that the method is suitable for use at high speeds

An Active Knee Orthesis for the Physical Therapy of NEurological Disorders

This paper presents the design of a new robotic orthotic solution aimed at improving the rehabilitation of a number of neurological disorders (Multiple Sclerosis, Post-Polio and Stroke). These neurological disorders are the most expensive for the European Health Systems, and the personalization of the therapy will contribute to a 47% cost reduction. Most orthotic devices have been evaluated as an aid to in-hospital training and rehabilitation in patients with motor disorders of various origins. The advancement of technology opens the possibility of new active orthoses able to improve function in the usual environment of the patient, providing added benefits to state-of-the-art devices in life quality. The active knee orthosis aims to serve as a basis to justify the prescription and adaptation of robotic orthoses in patients with impaired gait resulting from neurological processes.Peer Reviewe

Kinematic and kinetic study of sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit movements towards a human-like skeletal model

The movements of sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit are frequently executed on daily life. To develop robotic assistive devices for people with mobility problems, it is important to study how a healthy human performs these tasks. The goal of this study is to present a mathematical model based on acquired kinematic and kinetic data that represents a healthy human body performing these movements. The results revealed that the movements of sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit have symmetric ground reaction force, joint angles and torques. The joint angles and the torques are very similar between each leg. The knee and the hip show more variation of the angle and achieve higher values of torque in comparison to the ankle. Although, ankle has higher torque during standing position. The ground reaction force shows that it is necessary to create an additional force to the weight force to achieve the final position of the movement. The acquired data describe as expected the sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit movements and can be used, in the future, to validate the presented model.This work has been supported in part by the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) with the Reference Scholarship under Grant SFRH/BD/108309/2015, and part by the FEDER Funds through the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte and national funds from FCT with the project SmartOs -Controlo Inteligente de um Sistema Ortotico Ativo e Autonomo-under Grant NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-030386, and by the FEDER Funds through the COMPETE 2020-Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI)-with the Reference Project under Grant POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006941

Feedback-error learning for gait rehabilitation using a powered knee orthosis: first advances

Powered assistive devices have been playing a major role in gait rehabilitation. Hereby, the development of time-effective control strategies to manage such devices is a key concern to rehabilitation engineering. This paper presents a real-time Feedback-Error Learning control strategy, by means of an Artificial Neural Network as a feedforward controller to acquire the inverse model of the plant, and a Proportional-Integral-Derivative feedback controller to guarantee stability and handle with disturbances. A Powered Knee Orthosis was used as the assistive device and a trajectory generator assistive strategy, previously acquired through an inertial system, was applied. A validation with one subject walking in a treadmill at 1 km/h with the Powered Knee Orthosis controlled by the Feedback-Error Learning control was performed. Evidences on the control behavior presented good performances, with the Artificial Neural Network taking 90 seconds to learn the inverse model, which enabled a decrease in the angular position error by 75% and eliminated the phase delay, when compared to solo Proportional-Integral-Derivative feedback controller. Robust reactions to external disturbances were also achieved. The implemented Feedback-Error Learning strategy proves to be a time-effective asset to control assistive powered devices.This work has been supported in part by the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) with the Reference Scholarship under Grant SFRH/BD/108309/2015, and part by the FEDER Funds through the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte and national funds from FCT with the project SmartOs -Controlo Inteligente de um Sistema Ortotico Ativo e Autonomo-under Grant NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-030386, and by the FEDER Funds through the COMPETE 2020-Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI)-with the Reference Project under Grant POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006941 and supported by grant RYC-2014-16613 by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness