• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.103 no.3
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• pp.503-509
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Forest-walking exercise on gait pattern in the elderly. The subjects (n=37) were assigned to 2 groups: Forest-walking exercise (FWE) group (n=19, $66.34{\pm}4.31$ years old) and In-door treadmill-walking exercise (ITWE) group (n=18, $67.18{\pm}2.78$ years old). The subjects participated in FWE program or ITWE program (3 times/week, 80 min/day) for 12 weeks. The subjects were tested on functional fitness (strength, endurance, agility/balance, BMI) and gait pattern (cadence, velocity, and stability) at the beginning and the end of the 12-weeks program. For data analysis, mean and standard deviation scores were calculated, and independent t-test and repeated two-way ANOVA were used. The results of this study were as follow: First, FWE group was significantly more improved than ITWE group on functional fitness(lower-body muscular strength, lower-body flexibility, mobility, cardiorespiratory endurance) after 12-weeks exercise program. But both groups showed equally improvements on functional fitness (upper-body muscular strength, upper-body flexibility, BMI). Second, FWE group was significantly more improved than ITWE group on cadence, gait velocity, and gait stability after 12-weeks exercise program. Therefore, this study may suggest that Forest-walking exercise based on sensory-motor functional integration improves efficiently functional fitness and gait pattern in the elderly, and further becomes an effective exercise method that makes more dynamic life, and prevents from falling.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.327-336
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• 2012

Objective: The purpose of this study is to find the problems of stability when people use the bassinet as an ambulatory aid for old people. Background: Many aged people use a bassinet as ambulatory aid. But the safety of using the bassinet as ambulatory aid has not been verified yet. Method: The 13 university-students who don't have musculoskeletal disorders volunteered to participate in this study. According to structural analysis of the both tools, we compared the structural stability of an outdoor rollator with the structural stability of a bassinet. And when the participants walked using both tools, the motions were captured and analysed. We measured the angle of shoulder joint and the angle of trunk from the ground when the participants were walking. And we found the distance from participants' pressure cone apex and greater trochanter. Results: Following the structural analysis, the bassinet has the lower structural stability than the outdoor rollator. When the people used the bassinet as ambulatory aid, the angle of the shoulder joint was bigger than to use the outdoor rollator. The angle of trunk wasn't different between the outdoor rollator and the bassinet. And distance from pressure cone apex to greater trochanter was far to use the bassinet than to use the outdoor rollator. Conclusion: Through the structure analysis and gait analysis of the bassinet and the outdoor rollator, we can be aware of that the bassinet has problem of stability. Therefore the people who use the bassinet as an ambulatory aid, especially supporting body weight, may be hurt due to the problems of stability. Application: This research can be used for developing a study of the ambulatory aid and preventing the accident when the aged people use the ambulatory aid.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.81-88
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• 2002

This paper presents a design and a control of a New Reciprocating Gait Orthosis and dynamic walking simulation for this system. The New Reciprocating Gait Orthosis is distinguished from other one by which has a very light-weight and a new RGO type with servo motors. The gait of a New Reciprocating Gait Orthosis depends on the constrains of mechanical kinematics and initial posture. The stability of dynamic walking is investigated by ZMP(Zero Moment Point) of the New Reciprocating Gait Orthosis. It is designed according to a human wear type and is able to accomodate itself to human environments. The joints of each leg are adopted with a good kinematic characteristics. To test of the analysis of joint kinematic properties, we did the strain stress analysis of dynamic PLS and the study of FEM with a dynamic PLS. It will be expect that the spinal card injury patients are able to train effectively with a Reciprocating Gait Orthosis. The New Reciprocating Gait Orthosis was able to keep smooth walling by the orthotic servo motors and hybrid system, make a sequence of flexion and extension of the joint during the walking. Also, the New Reciprocating Gait Orthosis turned out to be a satisfactory orthosis for walling training, for the spinal cord injury patient.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers D
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• v.54 no.9
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• pp.547-555
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• 2005

A fault-tolerant gait of multi-legged robots with static walking is a gait which can maintain gait stability and continue its walking against an occurrence of a leg failure. This paper proposes fault-tolerant gait planning of a quadruped robot walking over a rough planar terrain. The considered fault is a locked joint failure, which prevents a joint of a leg from moving and makes it locked in a known position. In this Paper, two-phase discontinuous gaits are presented as a new fault-tolerant gait for quadruped robots suffering from a locked joint failure. By comparing with previously developed one-phase discontinuous gaits, it is shown that the proposed gait has great advantages in gait performance such as the stride length and terrain adaptability. Based on the two-phase discontinuous gait, quasi follow-the-leader(FTL) gaits are constructed which enable a quadruped robot to traverse two-dimensional rough terrain after an occurrence of a locked joint failure. During walking, two front legs undergo the foot adjustment procedure for avoiding stepping on forbidden areas. The Proposed wait planning is verified by using computer graphics simulations.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.553-559
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• 2015

The purpose of this research is to develop a gait assistive device to enhance the gait stability and training efficiency of stroke patients. The configuration of this device is mainly composed of a motored wheel and a single cane whose lower end is attached to a motored wheel frame. A patient can feel haptic information from continuous ground contact from the wheel while walking through the grip handle. In addition, the wheeled cane can avoid using excessive use of the patient's upper limb for weight support and motivate the patient to use a paralyzed lower limb more actively. Moreover, the proposed device can provide intuitive and safe user interaction by integrating a force sensor and a tilt sensor equipped to the cane frame, and a switch sensor at the cane's handle. The admittance control has been implemented for the patient to change the walking speed intuitively by using the interaction forces at the handle. A hemi-paretic stroke patient participated in the walking assistive experiments as a pilot study to verify the effectiveness of the proposed haptic cane system. The results showed that the patient could improve walking speed and muscle activations during walking with a constant speed mode of the haptic cane. Moreover, the patient could maintain the preferred walking speeds and gait stability regardless of the magnitude of resistance forces with the admittance control mode of the haptic cane. The proposed robotic gait assistive device with a simple and intuitive mechanism can provide efficient gait training modes to stroke patients with high possibilities of widespread utilizations.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2018.05a
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• pp.576-579
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• 2018

Purpose : This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of an action-observational task oriented training on balance and gait ability of patients with chronic stroke. Method : The subjects of this study were 30 patients with chronic stroke who agreed to participate and were picked up. Participants were randomly divided into equal groups; namely, an experimental group that underwent action-observational task oriented training for at least 30 minutes/day for 6 weeks and a control group that underwent general task-oriented training. Patients' balance was assessed using the Sway Length(SL), Sway Area (SA) and Limit of Stability (LOS) test. In addition, gait ability was assessed using the 10 Meter Walking Test (10MWT). Gait time and speed taken to walk 10 metres were used to examine gait ability. Result : There were significant improvements in the subscales of the balance and gait ability test of those who participated in the action-observational task oriented training, while the control group showed no significant changes. Conclusion : Therefore, Action-observational training effectively improved the balance and gait abiltiy in patients with chronic stroke.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.49-58
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of bridging stabilization exercise on balance ability and gait performance in elderly women. The subjects of this study were thirty-one elderly women over 65 years old in HongSung-Gun Senior Citizen Welfare Hall. The subjects were randomly assigned into one of three groups (trunk stabilization exercise on the mat, whole body vibration, and Swiss ball) and participated in each exercise program three times a week for 4 weeks. Each exercise began in the bridging position. The dynamic balance and gait were measured by limit of stability area using force plate, Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and Timed Up and Go Test (TUG). The results were as follows: 1) The limit of stability in three groups increased significantly in anterior-posterior and medial-lateral lean after 4-weeks intervention (p<.05). 2) There were no significant differences in the limit of stability among three groups after 4-weeks intervention (p>.05). 3) The BBS and TUG in three groups increased significantly after 4-weeks intervention (p<.05). 4) There were significant differences among three groups in BBS. Post-hoc test showed that Swiss ball exercise group was significantly higher than the mat and whole body vibration groups. 5) There were no significant differences TUG among three groups after 4-weeks intervention (p>.05). In conclusion, this study suggested that 4 weeks of the bridging stabilization exercises were effective on balance and gait in all three groups. Particularly Swiss ball exercise group showed higher improvement than two other exercise groups (mat, whole body vibration group).

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.305-311
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• 2012

In this paper, we propose a gait generation method for quadruped robots using the xz-axis sway of the quadruped robot, which minimizes the shake of the quadruped robot and maximizes the stability margin. In the proposed method, the gait is generated based on wave gaits and the stability analysis uses the body tilt information of the quadruped robot according to the leg's height of leg. In addition, to reduce the impact on the body caused by the z-axis sway while walking, the proposed method generates the smooth walking movement trajectory with less impact by using Fourier series. Finally, to verify the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed method, we carry out the computer simulations and the real walking experiments with the implemented quadruped robot.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.23-30
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• 2022

PURPOSE: This study was designed to investigate the effects of keeping contraction of abdominal and pelvic floor muscles on 3D pelvic stability in individuals with nonspecific chronic low back pain (CLBP) during normal speed walking. METHODS: The subjects were 20 adults with CLBP deformity and had moderate pain intensity of the visual analog scale. A three-dimensional camera capture system was used to collect kinematic pelvic motion data with and without contraction of the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles during gait. The subjects were asked to walk on a walkway in the lab room and they were attached 40 reflective markers to their pelvic segment and lower extremities. A Visual3D Professional V6 program and Vicon Nexus software were used to analyze 3D pelvic kinematic data. RESULTS: There were significant differences between with and without contraction of the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles of the pelvic depression and the total pelvic motion in coronal plane during gait (p < .05). However, there were no significant differences in any of the maximal motion of the pelvic segment in sagittal and transverse motion plane according to the different muscle contraction conditions (p > .05). CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that maintaining co-contraction of the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles in individuals with CLBP increased pelvic stability and contributed to preventing excessive pelvic movements during gait.

• Transactions on Control, Automation and Systems Engineering
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.147-155
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• 2002

In this paper, the regular rotational gaits of the quadruped crawling robot are studied. It is assumed that the proposed regular rotational gaits starts from one of six support patterns in a translational gaits and end up with one of six support patterns in a translational gaits. Noting that six support patterns in a regular translational gait belong to two different groups with respect to regular rotational gait, the static stability margin and the maximum rotational displacement during one rotational stride period for the two representative support patterns are investigated. It is expected that the proposed regular rotational gaits will enhance the omni-directional characteristics of the quadruped crawling robot.