Gait Analysis based Speed Control of Walking Assistive Robot

摘要

The lack of caregivers in an aged society with low birth rate has become a serious social problem. The independent living ability of elderly people are expected, and walking ability is necessary to live an independent life. We are developing a walking assistive robot that can be adapted to the user's walking condition. This study uses proximity sensors, which were attached to the front of the walking support robot, to measure the walking of a user gait analysis and control of the robot according to the gait. Gait analysis was performed based on the relative distance of the user's leg to the inner front of the robot. Various experiments were conducted to study the difference between normal walking and waling with pseudo-disability, and to compare different control strategies based on gait analysis. The results showed that the measurement method is feasible to measure walking while using a walking assistive robot, and that speed control considering the characteristics of walking is a more suitable control method than linear speed change. These results will be useful for the development of automatic rehabilitation robots according to an individual's walking condition.