Utilization of Reaction Force Information for Robotic Mobility Aids for the Elderly

• 발행기관: 한국과학기술원 인간친화 복지 로봇 시스템 연구센터
• 저자명: Jin-Kyu Choi · Choong Sik Park
• 간행물 정보: 『International Journal of Assistive Robotics and Mechatronics』International Journal of Assistive Robotics and Mechatronics Vol.9 No.4, 85~94쪽, 전체 10쪽
• 주제분류: 공학 > 제어계측공학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2008.12.30

영문 초록

Existing robotic mobility aids have been developed with various functions that support the everyday life of elderly people. However, most of them have no countermeasures against tumbling, which can cause the user to fall. One way to assure safety against such a tumble is to give the information of the stability margin to the user before a rumble occurs. The purpose of this paper is to propose the utilization of the reaction force information near the wheels to improve the safety level during the use of mobility aids. It is shown that the reaction force information supplies not only the ZMP(aero-moment point) for providing a current stability margin but also the orientation angles of the device, the user's force, the load on the actuated wheel, and the mass and its center position in a 3-D space for safer walking assistance. In this paper, the methods to obtain the advantages produced when using the reaction force information are initially formulated, and a number of examples to confirm the methods then are presented and discussed.

키워드

Mobility aid reaction force stability margin walking assistance