Evaluating the assistance effectiveness of a newly developed rollator mounted with a freely rotating chest support pad

Abstract

In recent years, wearable assistance robots and gait trainers with weight bearing facility have been developed to enable elderly people to walk autonomously. However, the effectiveness of these devices in walking assistance has not been investigated. In this study, the effectiveness of a newly developed rollator having a chest pad equipped with a one-degree-of-freedom rotational mechanism, was evaluated. A rotary sensor was mounted on the back of the chest pad to measure its angle of rotation. A motion capture system with six CCD cameras was used to record movements of the legs during walking tests with the new rollator for five young healthy subjects. The results are analyzed and the relationship between the pad rotation and other factors, such as waist rotation, extension of the knee, distance between feet and heel height, are investigated to evaluate the effectiveness.