Prosthetic leg control in the nullspace of human interaction

Robert D. Gregg, Anne E. Martin

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent work has extended the control method of virtual constraints, originally developed for autonomous walking robots, to powered prosthetic legs for lower-limb amputees. Virtual constraints define desired joint patterns as functions of a mechanical phasing variable, which are typically enforced by torque control laws that linearize the output dynamics associated with the virtual constraints. However, the output dynamics of a powered prosthetic leg generally depend on the human interaction forces, which must be measured and canceled by the feedback linearizing control law. This feedback requires expensive multi-axis load cells, and actively canceling the interaction forces may minimize the human's influence over the prosthesis. To address these limitations, this paper proposes a method for projecting virtual constraints into the nullspace of the human interaction terms in the output dynamics. The projected virtual constraints naturally render the output dynamics invariant with respect to the human interaction forces, which instead enter into the internal dynamics of the partially linearized prosthetic system. This method is illustrated with simulations of a transfemoral amputee model walking with a powered knee-ankle prosthesis that is controlled via virtual constraints with and without the proposed projection.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2016 American Control Conference, ACC 2016
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages4814-4821
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781467386821
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 28 2016
Event2016 American Control Conference, ACC 2016 - Boston, United States
Duration: Jul 6 2016Jul 8 2016

Publication series

NameProceedings of the American Control Conference
Volume2016-July
ISSN (Print)0743-1619

Other

Other2016 American Control Conference, ACC 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityBoston
Period7/6/167/8/16

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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