title: Evaluation of joint moment patterns of a wearable walking assistant robot: Experimental and simulation analyses.
abstract: This study analyzes the moment of human main joints (knee and hip) for developing a wearable walking assistant robot. Experiments were performed on two steps to analyze motions. Three healthy males with no neural and musculoskeletal disorders volunteered to participate in this study. In the step up test, the maximum moment was 0.98±0.05 Nm/kg for the knee and 0.52±0.04 Nm/kg for the hip. In the sit-to-stand test, the maximum moment was 0.88±0.06 Nm/kg for the knee and 0.44±0.04 Nm/kg for the hip. The moment of the hip was significantly higher than the knee. In addition, the motion analysis results were compared with proven validity and inverse dynamics analysis results. Experimental results showed that there was no significant difference in the absolute value or pattern. For the step up motion, after wearing Powered Gait Orthosis (PGO), the hip joint torque value (1.22 Nm/kg) was about 1.3 times greater than the knee joint torque value (0.96 Nm/kg). It indicates that the step up motion requires more power from the hip joint than the knee joint. Moreover, there was a significant torque value difference for before and after wearing the device.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biotechnology, Dongguk University-Bio Medi Campus, 32, Dongguk-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
authors.forename: Ho Chul
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biotechnology, Dongguk University-Bio Medi Campus, 32, Dongguk-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
authors.forename: Ju Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biotechnology, Dongguk University-Bio Medi Campus, 32, Dongguk-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001186:Artificial Limbs; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D000067190:Exoskeleton Device; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology*; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D019415:Torque
keywords: Powered Gait Orthosis (PGO); Simulation; joint; torque