Abstract-A Powered Knee Orthosis (PKO) was recently developed for the elderly and patients with disordered gait to regain normal walking. In order to enhance the PKO performance and reduce system complexity especially for people with muscle weakness in their knee joints, an algorithm named HIP-KNEE control is proposed. This algorithm is based on the analysis of kinematic gait model, and the desired knee joint angle (KNEE) is estimated from the measurements of hip joint angle (HIP). The relationship between HIP and KNEE is modeled as a polynomial, which can be easily implemented to an embedded controller for real-time control. This control method is natural to subjects with good function in hip joint, and it can provide help in walking without special training. An Inertia Measurement Units (IMU) is used for obtaining HIP input, and integrated with a footswitch for checking the heel condition, the gait assistance performance can be further improved.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.