Controlling Locomotion Over Continuously Varying Activities for Agile Powered Prosthetic Legs
University of Michigan
Summary
The overall goal of this project is to model human joint biomechanics over continuously-varying locomotion to enable adaptive control of powered above-knee prostheses. The central hypothesis of this project is that variable joint impedance can be parameterized by a continuous model based on measurable quantities called phase and task variables. This project will use machine learning to identify variable impedance functions from able-bodied data including joint perturbation responses across the phase/task space to bias the solution toward biological values.
Description
The overall goal of this project is to model human joint biomechanics over continuously-varying locomotion to enable adaptive control of powered above-knee prostheses. Above-knee amputees often struggle to perform the varying activities of daily life with conventional prostheses due to the lack of positive mechanical work and active control. Emerging powered prostheses have motors that can perform these missing functions, but the biomechanics experienced by the user depend on the control of these motors. The way the prosthesis interacts with both the user and environment can be controlled thro…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18–65 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion criteria for able-bodied participants will be: * Aged between 18 to 65 years Exclusion criteria for able-bodied, young adult participants will be: * Pregnant (self-report) * Any significant neuromuscular or musculoskeletal disorder that would interfere with the study * Unable to walk for 20 minutes * History of any cardiovascular, vestibular, or visual diseases and/or impairments that may interfere with the study * Cognitive deficits that would impair their ability to give informed consent or impair their ability to follow simple instructions during the experiments. In the case of…
Interventions
- DevicePowered prosthesis
A powered prosthesis will be used to restore normative leg biomechanics to above-knee amputee participants during different activities of daily life.
Location
- Rehab Lab, University of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan