A low-cost anthropometric walking robot for reproducing gait lab data

Article type: Research Article

Authors: da Silva Santana, Rogerio Eduardo | de Toledo Fleury, Agenor^; | Menegaldo, Luciano Luporini

Affiliations: Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica, Escola Politécnica da USP, Av. Prof. Mello Moraes, 2231, CEP 05508-900, São Paulo, Brazil | Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica, Centro Universitário da FEI, Av. Humberto A. Castelo Branco, 3972, CEP 09850-901, São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Brasil | Seção de Engenharia Mecânica e de Materiais, Instituto Militar de Engenharia, Pça. General Tiburcio, 80, CEP22290-270, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Note: [] Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Abstract: Human gait analysis is one of the resources that may be used in the study and treatment of pathologies of the locomotive system. This paper deals with the modelling and control aspects of the design, construction and testing of a biped walking robot conceived to, in limited extents, reproduce the human gait. Robot dimensions have been chosen in order to guarantee anthropomorphic proportions and then to help health professionals in gait studies. The robot has been assembled with low-cost components and can reproduce, in an assisted way, real-gait patterns generated from data previously acquired in gait laboratories. Part of the simulated and experimental results are addressed to demonstrate the ability of the biped robot in reproducing normal and pathological human gait.

Keywords: robotics, biomechanics, biped robot, robot design, gait analysis

DOI: 10.1080/11762320902734182

Journal: Applied Bionics and Biomechanics, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 187-194, 2008