Redundant kinematics and workspace centering control of AssistOn-Gait overground gait and balance trainer

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICRA.2016.7487556

We present the redundant kinematics and workspace centering control of AssistOn-Gait, an overground gait and balance trainer designed to deliver pelvis-hip exercises to correct compensatory movements arising from abnormal gait patterns. AssistOn-Gait consists of an impedance controlled pelvis-hip exoskeleton module, supported by a motion controlled holonomic mobile platform. The exoskeleton module possesses 7 active degrees of freedom to independently control the rotation of the each hip in the sagittal plane along with the pelvic tilt, pelvic rotation and the horizontal, vertical and lateral displacements of the pelvis. The holonomic mobile base can track the movements of patients on flat surfaces, allowing patients to walk naturally, start/stop motion, vary their speed, sidestep to maintain balance and turn to change their walking direction. The kinematics of AssistOn-Gait is redundant, as the exoskeleton module spans all the degrees of freedom covered by the mobile platform. The device features dual layer actuation, since the exoskeleton module is designed for force control with good transparency, while the mobile base is designed for motion control to carry the weight of the patient and the exoskeleton. The kinematically redundant dual layer actuation enables the mobile base of the system to be controlled using workspace centering control strategy without the need for any additional sensors, since the patient movements are readily measured by the exoskeleton module. The workspace centering controller ensures that the workspace limits of the exoskeleton module are not reached, decoupling the dynamics of the mobile base from the exoskeleton dynamics. Consequently, AssistOn-Gait possesses virtually unlimited workspace, while featuring the same output impedance and force rendering performance as its exoskeleton module.