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Open AccessArticle
Development of Assistance Level Adjustment Function for Variable Load on a Forearm-Supported Robotic Walker
by
Yuto Mori
Yuto Mori 1,*,
Soichiro Yokoyama
Soichiro Yokoyama 2,
Tomohisa Yamashita
Tomohisa Yamashita 2,
Hidenori Kawamura
Hidenori Kawamura 2 and
Masato Mori
Masato Mori 3
1
Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Kita 14, Nishi 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0814, Japan
2
Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Kita 14, Nishi 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0814, Japan
3
SUNCREER Co., Ltd., Sapporo, 060-0012, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sensors 2024, 24(19), 6456; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24196456 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 5 September 2024
/
Revised: 30 September 2024
/
Accepted: 5 October 2024
/
Published: 6 October 2024
Abstract
With the progression of an aging society, the importance of walking assistance technology has been increasing. The research and development of robotic walkers for individuals requiring walking support are advancing. However, there was a problem that the conventional constant support amount did not satisfy the propulsion force required for the walking speed that users wanted. In this study, in order to solve this problem, we propose an algorithm for determining the support amount to maintain the walking speed when the average walking speed of each user is set as the target speed. A robotic walker was developed by attaching BLDC motors to an actual walker, along with a control algorithm for assistance based on sampling-type PID control. The effectiveness of the assistance determination algorithm and the usefulness of the parameters were demonstrated through experiments using weights loaded on the forearm support and target speeds. Subsequently, subject experiments were conducted to verify the ability to maintain target speeds, and a questionnaire survey confirmed that the assistance did not interfere with actual walking. The proposed algorithm for determining the assistance levels demonstrated the ability to maintain target speeds and allowed for adjustments in the necessary level of assistance.
Share and Cite
MDPI and ACS Style
Mori, Y.; Yokoyama, S.; Yamashita, T.; Kawamura, H.; Mori, M.
Development of Assistance Level Adjustment Function for Variable Load on a Forearm-Supported Robotic Walker. Sensors 2024, 24, 6456.
https://doi.org/10.3390/s24196456
AMA Style
Mori Y, Yokoyama S, Yamashita T, Kawamura H, Mori M.
Development of Assistance Level Adjustment Function for Variable Load on a Forearm-Supported Robotic Walker. Sensors. 2024; 24(19):6456.
https://doi.org/10.3390/s24196456
Chicago/Turabian Style
Mori, Yuto, Soichiro Yokoyama, Tomohisa Yamashita, Hidenori Kawamura, and Masato Mori.
2024. "Development of Assistance Level Adjustment Function for Variable Load on a Forearm-Supported Robotic Walker" Sensors 24, no. 19: 6456.
https://doi.org/10.3390/s24196456
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