A biomechatronical transtibial prosthesis powered by pleated pneumatic artificial muscles

Versluys, Rino; Desomer, Anja; Lenaerts, Gerlinde; Pareit, Olivier; Vanderborght, Bram; Perre, Georges Van der; Peeraer, Louis; Lefeber, Dirk

doi:10.1504/ijmic.2008.021479

Cited by 41 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Transmission tubes in conventional pneumatic systems are often more flexible, as they are operated at lower pressure, but heavy cylinders are still needed [58] and gas compressibility limits bandwidth. Artificial pneumatic muscles can result in low end-effector mass [41], but have more severe bandwidth limitations due to increased resting volume [65,66] and are still heavier than a Bowden cable termination. Like conventional hydraulic or pneumatic systems, Bowden cables can introduce stick-slip dynamics, due to cable-conduit or piston-cylinder friction, but these can be remedied by measuring torque on the joint side of the transmission [67].…”

Section: -6 / Vol 136 March 2014mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Universal Ankle–Foot Prosthesis Emulator for Human Locomotion Experiments

Caputo

Collins

2014

Journal of Biomechanical Engineering

139

107

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Robotic prostheses have the potential to significantly improve mobility for people with lower-limb amputation. Humans exhibit complex responses to mechanical interactions with these devices, however, and computational models are not yet able to predict such responses meaningfully. Experiments therefore play a critical role in development, but have been limited by the use of productlike prototypes, each requiring years of development and specialized for a narrow range of functions. Here we describe a robotic ankle-foot prosthesis system that enables rapid exploration of a wide range of dynamical behaviors in experiments with human subjects. This emulator comprises powerful off-board motor and control hardware, a flexible Bowden cable tether, and a lightweight instrumented prosthesis, resulting in a combination of low mass worn by the human (0.96 kg) and high mechatronic performance compared to prior platforms. Benchtop tests demonstrated closedloop torque bandwidth of 17 Hz, peak torque of 175 Nm, and peak power of 1.0 kW. Tests with an anthropomorphic pendulum "leg" demonstrated low interference from the tether, less than 1 Nm about the hip. This combination of low worn mass, high bandwidth, high torque, and unrestricted movement makes the platform exceptionally versatile. To demonstrate suitability for human experiments, we performed preliminary tests in which a subject with unilateral transtibial amputation walked on a treadmill at 1.25 ms À1 while the prosthesis behaved in various ways. These tests revealed low torque tracking error (RMS error of 2.8 Nm) and the capacity to systematically vary work production or absorption across a broad range (from À5 to 21 J per step). These results support the use of robotic emulators during early stage assessment of proposed device functionalities and for scientific study of fundamental aspects of human-robot interaction. The design of simple, alternate end-effectors would enable studies at other joints or with additional degrees of freedom.

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Section: -6 / Vol 136 March 2014mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Universal Ankle–Foot Prosthesis Emulator for Human Locomotion Experiments

Caputo

Collins

2014

Journal of Biomechanical Engineering

139

107

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“…The spring is not an energy source, and acts only as an energy buffer, so all the energy required to jump comes from Fig. 18 Ankle torque vs. ankle angle in normal walking (data are averaged from clinical gait tests on 52 healthy subjects) (Versluys et al 2008) the motor. So the energy of the motor and potential energy released by bending through the knees is stored in the spring during the first phase (represented by a blue line) and released to the robot in the phase before take-off.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When the torque-angle curve of a human ankle is studied then this behaves as a stiffening spring (segment 2-3 in Fig. 18) (Versluys et al 2008).…”

Section: Working Principle Of Novel Maccepa 20mentioning

confidence: 99%

MACCEPA 2.0: compliant actuator used for energy efficient hopping robot Chobino1D

et al. 2011

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The MACCEPA (Mechanically Adjustable Compliance and Controllable Equilibrium Position Actuator) is an electric actuator of which the compliance and equilibrium position are fully independently controllable and both are set by two dedicated servomotor. In this paper an improvement of the actuator is proposed where the torque-angle curve and consequently the stiffness-angle curve can be modified by choosing an appropriate shape of a profile disk, which replaces the lever arm of the original design. The actuator has a large joint angle, torque and stiffness range and these properties can be made beneficial for safe human robot interaction and the construction of energy efficient walking, hopping and running robots. The benefit of the ability to store and release energy is shown by the 1DOF hopping robot Chobino1D. The achieved hopping height is much higher compared to a configuration in which the same motor is used without a series elastic element. The stiffness of the actua-B. Vanderborght ( ) · R. Van Ham

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“…Because of this there is virtually no threshold pressure, hysteresis is reduced when compared to other types of muscles, and contractions of over 40% of the initial length are possible. Within the IPAM (intelligent prosthesis using artificial muscles) Project [48], a TT prosthesis using pleated pneumatic artificial muscles (Figure 8(b)) was developed to demonstrate the importance of push-off during gait [48]. The prototype is equipped with three PPAMs: one is placed anteriorly and two are placed posteriorly and work in parallel.…”

Section: Pneumatically Actuated Propulsive Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in Propulsive Bionic Feet and Their Actuation Principles

Cherelle

Mathijssen

Wang

et al. 2014

Advances in Mechanical Engineering

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In the past decades, researchers have deeply studied pathological and nonpathological gait to understand the human ankle function during walking. These efforts resulted in the development of new lower limb prosthetic devices aiming at raising the 3C-level (control, comfort, and cosmetics) of amputees. Thanks to the technological advances in engineering and mechatronics, challenges in the field of prosthetics have become an important source of interest for roboticists. Currently, most of the bionic feet are still on a research level but show promising results and a preview of tomorrow's commercial prosthetic devices. In this paper, the authors present the current state-of-the-art and the latest advances in propulsive bionic feet with its actuation principles. The context of this review study is outlined followed by a brief description of the basics in human biomechanics and criteria for new prosthetic designs. A new categorization based on the actuation principle of propulsive ankle-foot prostheses is proposed. Based on simulations, the general principles and benefits of each actuation method are explained. The corresponding latest advances in propulsive bionic feet are presented together with their main characteristics and scientific outcomes. The authors also propose to the reader a comparison analysis of the presented devices with a discussion of the general tendencies in new prosthetic feet.

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A biomechatronical transtibial prosthesis powered by pleated pneumatic artificial muscles

Cited by 41 publications

References 22 publications

A Universal Ankle–Foot Prosthesis Emulator for Human Locomotion Experiments

A Universal Ankle–Foot Prosthesis Emulator for Human Locomotion Experiments

MACCEPA 2.0: compliant actuator used for energy efficient hopping robot Chobino1D

Advances in Propulsive Bionic Feet and Their Actuation Principles

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