Locomotor Sub-functions for Control of Assistive Wearable Robots

A primary goal of comparative biomechanics is to understand the fundamental physics of locomotion within an evolutionary context. Such an understanding of legged locomotion results in a transition from copying nature to borrowing strategies for interacting with the physical world regarding design an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in neurorobotics 2017-09, Vol.11, p.44-44
Main Authors: Sharbafi, Maziar A, Seyfarth, Andre, Zhao, Guoping
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Architectural engineering
assistive devices
Balance
Biology
Coordination
Exoskeleton
Human mechanics
International conferences
legged locomotion
Locomotion
locomotor sub-functions
Neuroscience
Posture
posture control
Robotics
Robots
stance leg control
swing leg adjustment
Walking
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Summary:A primary goal of comparative biomechanics is to understand the fundamental physics of locomotion within an evolutionary context. Such an understanding of legged locomotion results in a transition from copying nature to borrowing strategies for interacting with the physical world regarding design and control of bio-inspired legged robots or robotic assistive devices. Inspired from nature, legged locomotion can be composed of three locomotor sub-functions, which are intrinsically interrelated: : redirecting the center of mass by exerting forces on the ground. : cycling the legs between ground contacts. : maintaining body posture. With these three sub-functions, one can understand, design and control legged locomotory systems with formulating them in simpler separated tasks. Coordination between locomotor sub-functions in a harmonized manner appears then as an additional problem when considering legged locomotion. However, biological locomotion shows that appropriate design and control of each sub-function simplifies coordination. It means that only limited exchange of sensory information between the different locomotor sub-function controllers is required enabling the envisioned modular architecture of the locomotion control system. In this paper, we present different studies on implementing different locomotor sub-function controllers on models, robots, and an exoskeleton in addition to demonstrating their abilities in explaining humans' control strategies.
ISSN:1662-5218
1662-5218
DOI:10.3389/fnbot.2017.00044