Abstract
In this book chapter, the authors present the Smart Walkers as robotic functional compensation devices for assisting mobility dysfunctions and empowering the human gait. First, general concepts of locomotion, mobility dysfunctions and assistive devices are presented. A special attention is given to the walkers, considering not only the large number of users, but mainly the rehabilitation and functional compensation potential of empowering the natural mobility. Following, robotic versions of wheeled-walkers for assisting locomotion dysfunctions are presented. In this context, the UFES Smart Walker is presented as an example of a robotic device focused on the user-machine multimodal interaction for obtaining a natural control strategy for the robotic device. Two developments are discussed: (i) an adaptive filtering strategy of the upper-body interaction forces is used in a Fuzzy-Logic based control system to generate navigation commands, and (ii) a robust inverse kinematics controller based on users-motion is presented as a new solution for controlling the Smart Walker motion. Finally, conclusions and future works in the field of walker-assisted gait is presented in the last section.
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Neto, A.F., Elias, A., Cifuentes, C., Rodriguez, C., Bastos, T., Carelli, R. (2015). Smart Walkers: Advanced Robotic Human Walking-Aid Systems. In: Mohammed, S., Moreno, J., Kong, K., Amirat, Y. (eds) Intelligent Assistive Robots. Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics, vol 106. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12922-8_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12922-8_4
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