• 재활복지공학회논문지
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• 제8권3호
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• pp.177-185
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• 2014

본 연구에서는 하지마비 장애인의 족하수 방지를 위하여 족배굴곡 보조를 위한 외골격 보조기를 개발하였다. 본 보조기는 인공 근육형 공압 액추에이터를 이용한 동력 전달부, 동력부의 고정을 위한 무릎 관절 착용부 및 보행 신호 검출을 위한 발목 관절 착용부로 구성되었다. 보조기는 무릎 관절 착용부와 발목 관절 착용부에 고정되어 족배굴곡 토크를 발생시켰으며, 발바닥 압력센서를 통해 사용자의 보행 단계를 검출하고, 족배굴곡 보조 타이밍을 감지하도록 하였다. 보행에 이상이 없는 건강한 65세 이상 고령자 7명과 20대 성인 10명을 대상으로 외골격 보조기의 족배굴곡 보조에 대한 성능을 확인한 결과, 인공 근육형 공압 액추에이터의 보조 시 전경골근의 근활성이 감소하는 결과가 나타났다. 향후 연구에서는 하지마비 환자를 대상으로 외골격 보조기의 효과를 검증할 것이다.

• 한국전문물리치료학회지
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.1-7
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• 2024

Background: Using wearable passive back-support exoskeletons in workplace has attracted attention as devices that support the posture of workers, enhance their physical capabilities, and reduce physical risk factors. Objects: This study aimed to investigate the effect of a wearable passive back-support exoskeleton on the activity of the erector spinae muscles during lifting tasks at various heights. Methods: Twenty healthy adult males were selected as subjects. Electromyography (EMG) was used to assess the activity of the erector spinae muscles while performing lifting tasks at three distinct heights (30, 40, and 50 cm), with and without the application of the Wearable Passive Back Support Exoskeleton. EMG data were gathered before and after the application of the orthosis. Results: The use of the Wearable Passive Back Support Exoskeleton resulted in a significant decrease in muscle activity when lifting a 10 kg object from heights of 30 and 40 cm (p < 0.05). Additionally, there was a significant reduction in muscle activity when lifting from a height of 50 cm compared with that at lower heights (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The use of a wearable passive back-support exoskeleton led to a decrease in the activity of the erector spinae muscles during lifting tasks, irrespective of the object's height. Our results suggest that the orthosis we tested may help decrease risk of lower back injuries during lifting.

• 제어로봇시스템학회논문지
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• 제17권8호
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• pp.814-823
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• 2011

Nowadays many neurological diseases such as stroke and Parkinson diseases are continually increasing. Orthotic devices as well as exoskeletons have been widely developed for supporting movement assistance and therapy of patients. Robotic knee orthosis can compensate stiff-knee gait of the paralyzed limb and can provide patients consistent assistance at wearable environments. With keeping a robotic orthosis wearable, however, it is not easy to develop a compact and safe actuator with fast rotation and high torque for consistent supports of patients during walking. In this paper, we propose a novel kinematic model for a robotic knee orthosis to drive a knee joint with independent actuation during swing and stance phases, which can allow an actuator with fast rotation to control swing motions and an actuator with high torque to control stance motions, respectively. The suggested kinematic model is composed of a hamstring device with a slide-crank mechanism, a quadriceps device with five-bar/six-bar links, and a patella device for knee covering. The quadriceps device operates in five-bar links with 2-dof motions during swing phase and is changed to six-bar links during stance phase by the contact motion to the patella device. The hamstring device operates in a slider-crank mechanism for entire gait cycle. The kinematics and velocity/force relations are analyzed for the quadriceps and hamstring devices. Finally, the adequate actuators for the suggested kinematic model are designed based on normal gait requirements. The suggested kinematic model will allow a robotic knee orthosis to use compact and light actuators with full support during walking.

• 제어로봇시스템학회논문지
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• 제17권10호
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• pp.1021-1028
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• 2011

The objective of this paper is to optimize the design parameters of a novel mechanism for a robotic knee orthosis. The feature of the proposed knee othosis is to drive a knee joint with independent actuation during swing and stance phases, which can allow an actuator with fast rotation to control swing motions and an actuator with high torque to control stance motions, respectively. The quadriceps device operates in five-bar links with 2-DOF motions during swing phase and is changed to six-bar links during stance phase by the contact motion to the patella device. The hamstring device operates in a slider-crank mechanism for entire gait cycle. The suggested kinematic model will allow a robotic knee orthosis to use compact and light actuators with full support during walking. However, the proposed orthosis must use additional linkages than a simple four-bar mechanism. To maximize the benefit of reducing the actuators power by using the developed kinematic design, it is necessary to minimize total weight of the device, while keeping necessary actuator performances of torques and angular velocities for support. In this paper, we use a SGA (Simple Genetic Algorithm) to minimize sum of total link lengths and motor power by reducing the weight of the novel knee orthosis. To find feasible parameters, kinematic constraints of the hamstring and quadriceps mechanisms have been applied to the algorithm. The proposed optimization scheme could reduce sum of total link lengths to half of the initial value. The proposed optimization scheme can be applied to reduce total weight of general multi-linkages while keeping necessary actuator specifications.