• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.22 no.3_1spc
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• pp.600-606
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• 2013

This paper describes the development of a novel walking assistance robot for the elderly and infirm. In the case of simple walking assistance devices, the walking safety and effectiveness are somewhat low; hence, caregivers are frequently required. The walking assistance robot developed in this research is capable of securely and conveniently assisting a walking user by using electric motors and various devices without a caregiver. The main features include the following. First, the walking safety is improved by using a pelvis supporter, and the robot is able to follow the user effectively by means of ergonomic motion sensors and electric powered wheels. Second, it is possible to adjust the load applied to the lower body by adjusting the height of the pelvis supporter. Finally, it is possible to inform the approximate distance and direction of any obstacle around the robot using the sounds and vibrations for the blind and the hearing impaired. The performance of the developed walking assistance robot was successfully verified using a walking assistance test in a narrow-corridor environment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.585-592
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• 2008

The aging society comes, the number of the old people expended. Technical aids allow elderly and handicapped people to live independently in their private homes as long as they wish. As a contribution to these required technological solutions, a demonstrator platform for a walking assistance robot. robot which has the capability to perform fetch and carry and various other supporting tasks. In this study, we addresses the development of a walking assistance robot system. We execute static analysis, vibration analysis and flexible dynamics to reserve stability at the design. Each motion of the robot uses a linear actuator and gears. Motion can be distinguished into 3 parts depending on the up & down, rotation, and cushion trans. In each motion, we compare the displacement of the case to be rigid with the case to be flexible. As a result, manufactured and feasibility of the walking assistance robot is validated through preliminary experiments.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.286-293
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• 2007

For safe walking of the people who are blind, walking assistance robot which can detecting and avoiding the obstacle was investigated. The implemented prototype walking assistance robot consists of a obstacle detecting module, a user interface using acoustic signal and a driving module. The obstacle detecting module uses 6 ultrasonic sensors those located at the front part of the robot can perceive the obstacle which is in 3 meter distances and $180^{\circ}$ degrees. It calculates the distance and degree from the obstacle using TOF (time of flight) method and decides the 3-dimensional location of the obstacle. The obstacle information is delivered to the user using acoustic alarm and guide sound. The robot is designed to avoid by itself when the obstacle is detecting and the user only follows it to safe walking. After the designed robot was implemented, driving and obstacle detecting experiments were carried out. The result showed that the designed walking assistance robot will help the people who are blind to walk around safe.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.269-274
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• 2020

This paper is to study the exoskeleton robot for the walking of the elderly and the disabled. We developed and tested an Exoskeletal robot with two axes of freedom for joint motion. The EEG and EMG signals were used to move the joints of the Exoskeletal robot. By analyzing the EMG signal, the control signal was extracted and applied to the robot to facilitate the walking operation of the walking assistance robot. In addition, the brain-computer interface technology is applied to perform the operation of the robot using brain waves, spontaneous electrical activities recorded on the human scalp. These two signals were fused to study the walking recognition method of the supporting robot leg.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.371-376
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to develop a walking assistance system with mobility support and life support functions so that the elderly with reduced physical ability and patients who are uncomfortable when moving can move comfortably indoors and outdoors, and help social life. An obstacle recognition sensor module that can be applied indoors and outdoors is installed on a lightweight walking aid. The purpose of this study is to develop a walking assistance system with mobility support and life support functions so that the elderly with reduced physical ability and patients who are uncomfortable when moving can move comfortably indoors and outdoors, and help social life. An obstacle recognition sensor module that can be applied indoors and outdoors is installed on a lightweight walking aid. It is a system structure of an integrated actuator and brake system that can avoid obstacles in consideration of the safety of the elderly and is easy to install on the device. In this paper, the design of a lightweight walking aid was designed to increase the convenience of the socially disadvantaged and the elderly with reduced exercise ability. In addition, in order to overcome the disadvantage of being inconvenient to use indoors due to the noise and vibration of the motor during operation, an In-Wheel type motor is applied to develop and apply a low noise, low vibration and high efficiency drive system.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.503-515
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• 2011

We developed a walking-assistance robot for walking rehabilitation and assessed the kinematic characteristics of a prototype. The walking-assistance robot is composed of hip, knee, and ankle joints, and each joint is driven by a motor with a decelerator. The equations of angular displacement while walking were derived by theoretically analyzing human locomotion, and the calculated angular displacements were then applied to the robot controller. The output angular displacement of each joint was measured and compared with its input angular displacement in walking experiments on a treadmill at various walking speeds and strides. The differences between the input and output angular displacements are 5.22% for the hip and 2.97% for the knee joints, and it has been confirmed that the walking-assistance robot works well.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.247-248
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• 2010

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.2376-2383
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• 2015

Assistance of the operator’s walking ability while carrying a load is a challenging area in lower limb exoskeletons. We implement an exoskeleton called the Unmanned Technology Research Center Exoskeleton (UTRCEXO), which enables the operator to walk with a load more comfortably. The UTRCEXO makes use of two types of DC motor to assist the hip and knee joints. The UTRCEXO detects the operator’s walking intention including step initiation with insole-type FSRs faster without using any bio-signals and precedes the operator’s step with a reference torque. It not only reduces interaction forces between the operator and the UTRCEXO, but also allows the operator to walk with a load more comfortably. In this paper, we present the UTRCEXO implementing the walking assistance mechanism with interaction force reduction during walking.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.36 no.3B
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• pp.287-296
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• 2011

The white stick mainly used for visually impaired person has difficulty in providing location information and effective countermeasures for emergency situations encountered during walking as well as detecting floating obstacles on the ground. In this paper, we propose a machine-to-machine based intelligent walking assistance system for safe and convenient walking of the visually impaired. The proposed system consists of a walking assistance stick used by the visually impaired and a server supporting multiple stick users in remote places through mobile communication networks. The stick equipped with ultrasonic sensors, GPS(global positioning system) receiver and vibrator not only detects floating obstacles, but also offers stick users with present location identification utilizing a text-to-voice conversion technology. Besides providing geographic information, the server notifies the emergency locations of users to guardian and aid agency, and it provides log information during walking such as the place, time and the number of accidents. Test results with a developed prototype system have shown that the system properly performs the functions and satisfies overall system performance.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.2138-2142
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• 2005

A wearable sensor system is proposed as a man-machine interface to control a device for walking assistance. The sensor system is composed of small sensors to detect the information about the user's body motion such as the activity level of skeletal muscles and the acceleration of each body parts. Each sensor includes a microcomputer and all the sensors are connected into a network by using the serial communication function of the microcomputer. The whole network is integrated into a belt made of soft fabric, thus, users can put on/off very easily. The sensor system is very reliable because of its decentralized network configuration. The body information obtained from the sensor system is used for controlling the assisting device to achieve a comfortable and an effective walking training.