Impedance control for a lower-limb rehabilitation robot

Abstract

This paper describes a method of applying impedance control theory to lower limb rehabilitation robot. By using the pressure information between wearers' leg and machine, this method improves the lower exoskeleton's flexibility and compliance. Moreover, an adaptive gait trajectory adjustment strategy, based on this impedance control, is proposed. The strategy can alter exoskeleton's walking gait to cope with patient's active movements. Simulation was carried out and the wearing experiments were tested on the prototype. The results show that the algorithm can improve mechanism's adaptability and satisfy different patients' gait training requirements.