The Challenges and Achievements of Experimental Implementation of an Active Transfemoral Prosthesis Based on Biological Quasi-Stiffness: The CYBERLEGs Beta-Prosthesis
The CYBERLEGs Beta-Prosthesis is an active transfemoral prosthesis that can provide the full torque required for reproducing average level ground walking at both the knee and ankle in the sagittal plane. The prosthesis attempts to produce a natural level ground walking gait that approximates the joi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2018-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neurorobotics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbot.2018.00080/full |
| _version_ | 1828847432237056000 |
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| author | Louis Flynn Joost Geeroms Rene Jimenez-Fabian Sophie Heins Bram Vanderborght Marko Munih Raffaele Molino Lova Nicola Vitiello Nicola Vitiello Dirk Lefeber |
| author_facet | Louis Flynn Joost Geeroms Rene Jimenez-Fabian Sophie Heins Bram Vanderborght Marko Munih Raffaele Molino Lova Nicola Vitiello Nicola Vitiello Dirk Lefeber |
| author_sort | Louis Flynn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The CYBERLEGs Beta-Prosthesis is an active transfemoral prosthesis that can provide the full torque required for reproducing average level ground walking at both the knee and ankle in the sagittal plane. The prosthesis attempts to produce a natural level ground walking gait that approximates the joint torques and kinematics of a non-amputee while maintaining passively compliant joints, the stiffnesses of which were derived from biological quasi-stiffness measurements. The ankle of the prosthesis consists of a series elastic actuator with a parallel spring and the knee is composed of three different systems that must compliment each other to generate the correct joint behavior: a series elastic actuator, a lockable parallel spring and an energy transfer mechanism. Bench testing of this new prosthesis was completed and demonstrated that the device was able to create the expected torque-angle characteristics for a normal walker under ideal conditions. The experimental trials with four amputees walking on a treadmill to validate the behavior of the prosthesis proved that although the prosthesis could be controlled in a way that allowed all subjects to walk, the accurate timing and kinematic requirements of the output of the device limited the efficacy of using springs with quasi-static stiffnesses. Modification of the control and stiffness of the series springs could provide better performance in future work. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T22:08:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-59ac7af042ee4094b61c1d56940b4bdb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5218 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T22:08:45Z |
| publishDate | 2018-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neurorobotics |
| spelling | doaj.art-59ac7af042ee4094b61c1d56940b4bdb2022-12-22T00:10:18ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neurorobotics1662-52182018-12-011210.3389/fnbot.2018.00080390643The Challenges and Achievements of Experimental Implementation of an Active Transfemoral Prosthesis Based on Biological Quasi-Stiffness: The CYBERLEGs Beta-ProsthesisLouis Flynn0Joost Geeroms1Rene Jimenez-Fabian2Sophie Heins3Bram Vanderborght4Marko Munih5Raffaele Molino Lova6Nicola Vitiello7Nicola Vitiello8Dirk Lefeber9Department of Robotics and Multibody Mechanics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and Flanders Make, Brussels, BelgiumDepartment of Robotics and Multibody Mechanics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and Flanders Make, Brussels, BelgiumDepartment of Robotics and Multibody Mechanics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and Flanders Make, Brussels, BelgiumCenter for Research in Mechatronics, Institute of Mechanics, Materials, and Civil Engineering, Institute of Neuroscience, and Louvain Bionics, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumDepartment of Robotics and Multibody Mechanics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and Flanders Make, Brussels, BelgiumRobolab, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, SloveniaFondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Milan, ItalyFondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Milan, ItalyThe BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Robotics and Multibody Mechanics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and Flanders Make, Brussels, BelgiumThe CYBERLEGs Beta-Prosthesis is an active transfemoral prosthesis that can provide the full torque required for reproducing average level ground walking at both the knee and ankle in the sagittal plane. The prosthesis attempts to produce a natural level ground walking gait that approximates the joint torques and kinematics of a non-amputee while maintaining passively compliant joints, the stiffnesses of which were derived from biological quasi-stiffness measurements. The ankle of the prosthesis consists of a series elastic actuator with a parallel spring and the knee is composed of three different systems that must compliment each other to generate the correct joint behavior: a series elastic actuator, a lockable parallel spring and an energy transfer mechanism. Bench testing of this new prosthesis was completed and demonstrated that the device was able to create the expected torque-angle characteristics for a normal walker under ideal conditions. The experimental trials with four amputees walking on a treadmill to validate the behavior of the prosthesis proved that although the prosthesis could be controlled in a way that allowed all subjects to walk, the accurate timing and kinematic requirements of the output of the device limited the efficacy of using springs with quasi-static stiffnesses. Modification of the control and stiffness of the series springs could provide better performance in future work.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbot.2018.00080/fullprosthesistransfemoralactivekneeanklepowered |
| spellingShingle | Louis Flynn Joost Geeroms Rene Jimenez-Fabian Sophie Heins Bram Vanderborght Marko Munih Raffaele Molino Lova Nicola Vitiello Nicola Vitiello Dirk Lefeber The Challenges and Achievements of Experimental Implementation of an Active Transfemoral Prosthesis Based on Biological Quasi-Stiffness: The CYBERLEGs Beta-Prosthesis Frontiers in Neurorobotics prosthesis transfemoral active knee ankle powered |
| title | The Challenges and Achievements of Experimental Implementation of an Active Transfemoral Prosthesis Based on Biological Quasi-Stiffness: The CYBERLEGs Beta-Prosthesis |
| title_full | The Challenges and Achievements of Experimental Implementation of an Active Transfemoral Prosthesis Based on Biological Quasi-Stiffness: The CYBERLEGs Beta-Prosthesis |
| title_fullStr | The Challenges and Achievements of Experimental Implementation of an Active Transfemoral Prosthesis Based on Biological Quasi-Stiffness: The CYBERLEGs Beta-Prosthesis |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Challenges and Achievements of Experimental Implementation of an Active Transfemoral Prosthesis Based on Biological Quasi-Stiffness: The CYBERLEGs Beta-Prosthesis |
| title_short | The Challenges and Achievements of Experimental Implementation of an Active Transfemoral Prosthesis Based on Biological Quasi-Stiffness: The CYBERLEGs Beta-Prosthesis |
| title_sort | challenges and achievements of experimental implementation of an active transfemoral prosthesis based on biological quasi stiffness the cyberlegs beta prosthesis |
| topic | prosthesis transfemoral active knee ankle powered |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbot.2018.00080/full |
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