pp. 1051-1064
S&M2159 Research Paper of Special Issue https://doi.org/10.18494/SAM.2020.2633 Published: March 19, 2020 Leg Load Increase Training Using Soft Gait-assistive Suit and Its Experimental Validation [PDF] Tetsuro Miyazaki, Toshihiro Kawase, Takahiro Kanno, and Kenji Kawashima (Received September 26, 2019; Accepted January 24, 2020)) Keywords: leg load increase training, soft gait-assistive suit, pneumatic artificial rubber muscle, gait phase detection, pressure-based control
A gait training method that can adjust the target load for a trainee is required to meet
various demands for training. In this paper, a leg load increase training method using a soft
gait-assistive suit is proposed. The soft gait-assistive suit is a power assistive device that helps
a trainee walk by actuating a pneumatic artificial rubber muscle (PARM) attached to the
trainee’s leg. In the proposed leg load increase training, an external force acting as a load is
applied to the trainee’s leg using the suit so that the muscle activity increases throughout the
gait cycle. We focused on the trainee’s joint torque trajectories during walking, and the PARMs
are actuated to increase them. The effectiveness of the proposed training method was verified
by gait experiments on two trainees using a treadmill. The leg electromyogram (EMG) of the
trainee wearing the gait-assistive suit was measured, and its change caused by the applied load
was observed. From the experimental results, we confirmed that the proposed training method
increased the load of the hip extension and flexion of the two trainees, and the load of ankle
dorsiflexion of one trainee.
Corresponding author: Tetsuro MiyazakiThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Cite this article Tetsuro Miyazaki, Toshihiro Kawase, Takahiro Kanno, and Kenji Kawashima, Leg Load Increase Training Using Soft Gait-assistive Suit and Its Experimental Validation, Sens. Mater., Vol. 32, No. 3, 2020, p. 1051-1064. |