| Summary: | Effective restoration of walking and standing of handicapped humans is an important
element which improves their quality of life. To meet such a need, the mechanical
substitute or prosthesis must provide support and stability as well as behave like a
normal limb for various activities. This thesis presents the study of the effectiveness
of an above-knee prosthesis with a four-bar linkage polycentric knee joint and a
magnetorheological damper controller.
A kinematic model of human locomotion is described. Using the model, a series of
studies on kinematics, inverse dynamics and dynamic analysis are conducted to
simulate the gait of an amputee-prosthesis system. Kinematic analysis shows that the
motion of the prosthetic shank can be made very close to that of normal walking
motion. The stability of the four-bar linkage polycentric knee prosthesis is then
analyzed in stance phase. It is shown that such a device has an elevated
instantaneous center during weight bearing phase, and a high controllability in
maintaining stability.
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