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Phase oscillator optimization eliminates jittering during transition gaits in multimodal locomotion assisted by a portable hip exoskeleton

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2023

Wei Yang Open the ORCID record for Wei Yang [Opens in a new window] ,
Zehao Yan ,
Linfan Yu ,
Linghui Xu ,
Xiaoguang Liu  and
Canjun Yang
Wei Yang
Affiliation:
Ningbo Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, Ningbo, China College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Zehao Yan
Affiliation:
Ningbo Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, Ningbo, China College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Linfan Yu
Affiliation:
Ningbo Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, Ningbo, China College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Linghui Xu
Affiliation:
Ningbo Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, Ningbo, China College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Xiaoguang Liu*
Affiliation:
Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Department, Ningbo Rehabilitation Hospital, Ningbo, China
Canjun Yang
Affiliation:
College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
*
Corresponding author: Xiaoguang Liu; Email: melecture@126.com
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Abstract

To be successfully used in daily life situations, exoskeletons should be effective across multimodal scenarios, including walking on various terrains, and transitions between locomotion modes such as walking-to-stop. Correct continuous gait phase estimation is essential for high-level walking assistance control. Despite the impressive advances in gait phase estimation for a variety of locomotion modes, transition gait phase estimation is rarely researched, leading to the jittering of exoskeletons during walking-to-stop transitions. We propose an optimized phase oscillator (PO-opt) that estimates the gait phase correctly during transition gaits in multimodal locomotion, which is beneficial to eliminating the jittering. In the phase plane, a lateral axis extreme difference (LAED) is adopted to classify transition gaits. The threshold of LAED for transition gaits in multimodal locomotion was preliminarily determined by simulation, which was then applied and validated in experiments. Simulation results indicated that a threshold of 15.0 was suitable for transition gaits classification during treadmill walking, free walking, and ramp ascent/descent, while results of the experiment showed that a threshold between 6.5 and 10.5 was applicable for treadmill walking, free walking, and stair ascent/descent. In particular, the jittering elimination rates for 3, 4, and 5 km/h treadmill walking were improved from 29%, 21%, and 4% (PO model) to 100%, respectively, when the threshold of LAED was set at 15.0 in PO-opt model. The results indicated a significant increase in the rate of jittering elimination when the PO-opt model was applied. The model holds great promise in real-world applications for prostheses and other types of exoskeletons.

Keywords

gait phase estimationhip exoskeletonmultimodal locomotionphase oscillator optimizationtransition gaits
Type
Research Article
Information
Robotica , Volume 41 , Issue 11 , November 2023 , pp. 3349 - 3360
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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