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Realization of Natural Human Motion on a 3D Biped Robot For Studying the Exoskeleton Effective

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Abstract

Purpose

In this study, natural human motion was modeled using a three-dimensional simulation involving a biped robot. Exoskeleton assistance was examined through the extraction and analysis of kinematic and dynamic parameters. The present findings can serve as a reference for a study on exoskeleton design in which user effort is considered.

Methods

A biped robot simulator of human gait was constructed. A participant’s movement was recorded using a Vicon motion capture system. The effect of exoskeleton assistance on gait performance was evaluated under admittance control for user interaction.

Results

In the simulation of a squatting motion, the exoskeleton helped the user lift a 50-lb weight without the user exerting any additional effort. Exoskeleton energy consumption was also examined. Virtual parallel bars effectively assisted the biped in simulating natural walking gait. Adjusting the body’s center of gravity helped reduce the robot’s dependence on the parallel bars, as did changing the walking speed, which allowed the body to catch up with leg motion.

Conclusion

The biped effectively simulated the participant’s motion when he did not walk away from where he stood. Special care was taken because the biped robot lacked the degrees of freedom of human motion. Notably, virtual parallel bars were successfully used to help the robot walk with a natural gait. This method can be applied in scenarios mimicking humans moving with assistance.

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Data availability

The human gait data can be downloaded from the following server: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZbZGFScVn26bY0djE1O-2lcDpZPYojJ5?usp=sharing

Code availability

The system is developed in MATLAB.

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Acknowledgements

This manuscript was edited by Wallace Academic Editing.

Funding

This research is support by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology under Grant No: NCSIST-401-V101(109) and in part by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan under Grant No: 108-2221-E-002-149-MY3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chi-Ying Lee, Shih Chieh Lan, Jung-Ji Lin, Yu-Ting Lin, Po-Shen Chiang & Jia-Yush Yen

  2. School and Graduate Institute of Physical Therapy, National Taiwan University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

    Wei-Li Hsu

  3. Advanced Research and Development Supervisor, Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, Taoyuan, Taiwan

    Kuo-Kuang Jen & Andy Y. S. Huang

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, No. 43, Keelung Rd., Sec. 4, Da’an Dist., Taipei, 106335, Taiwan

    Jia-Yush Yen

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  1. Chi-Ying Lee
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Correspondence to Jia-Yush Yen.

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Lee, CY., Lan, S.C., Lin, JJ. et al. Realization of Natural Human Motion on a 3D Biped Robot For Studying the Exoskeleton Effective. J. Med. Biol. Eng. 41, 856–869 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40846-021-00634-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40846-021-00634-y

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