Tripping Avoidance Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Based on Virtual Potential Field for Elderly People
State Key Laboratory of Robotics and Systems, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
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Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
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These authors contributed equally to this work.
Sensors 2020, 20(20), 5844; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20205844
Received: 3 September 2020
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Revised: 6 October 2020
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Accepted: 6 October 2020
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Published: 15 October 2020
(This article belongs to the Section Wearables)
Tripping is a common problem that everyone faces when walking. This paper mainly focuses on a lower limb exoskeleton that can help those weak in joints to avoid tripping when negotiating stairs or stepping over obstacles. This method does not need a camera or map reconstruction to recognize the obstacles and plan paths. The exoskeleton applies an impedance controller to follow and control the pilot’s movements. A virtual potential field is proposed to help the robot regulate the pilot’s motion and avoid kicking the obstacles appearing in front of the pilot’s foot during walking. Simulation and experiments show that this method works effectively and could help the elderly and those affected by joint weakness avoid tripping when walking.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Zhang, Z.; Li, C.; Zheng, T.; Li, H.; Zhao, S.; Zhao, J.; Zhu, Y. Tripping Avoidance Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Based on Virtual Potential Field for Elderly People. Sensors 2020, 20, 5844. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20205844
AMA Style
Zhang Z, Li C, Zheng T, Li H, Zhao S, Zhao J, Zhu Y. Tripping Avoidance Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Based on Virtual Potential Field for Elderly People. Sensors. 2020; 20(20):5844. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20205844
Chicago/Turabian StyleZhang, Zongwei, Changle Li, Tianjiao Zheng, Hongwu Li, Sikai Zhao, Jie Zhao, and Yanhe Zhu. 2020. "Tripping Avoidance Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Based on Virtual Potential Field for Elderly People" Sensors 20, no. 20: 5844. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20205844
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