Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Engineer applies robot control theory to improve prosthetic legs


New research enables powered prosthetics to dynamically respond to the wearer’s environment and help amputees walk. Wearers of the robotic leg could walk on a treadmill almost as fast as an able-bodied person.

A University of Texas at Dallas professor applied robot control theory to enable powered prosthetics to dynamically respond to the wearer's environment and help amputees walk.
In research available online and in an upcoming print issue of IEEE Transactions on Robotics, wearers of the robotic leg could walk on a moving treadmill almost as fast as an able-bodied person.
"We borrowed from robot control theory to create a simple, effective new way to analyze the human gait cycle," said Dr. Robert Gregg, a faculty member in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and lead author of the paper. "Our approach resulted in a method for controlling powered prostheses for amputees to help them move in a more stable, natural way than current prostheses."
To read the article in full please visit: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141204110849.htm
To access the CDR Library: http://uscm.med.sc.edu/CDR/index.asp

No comments: