• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.1250-1258
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• 1997

This paper reports on the development of a new foot for a quadrupedal jointed-leg type walking robot. The foot has 2 toes, one at the front and the other at the rear side, for stable landing on uneven ground by point contact. The toes can move up and down independantly, guided by double-wishbone shaped parallel links which enable the lower leg to rotate with respect to a remote center on the ground surface. The motion of each toe is damped by a hydropneumatic shock absorber integrated in the foot in order to absorb the dynamic landing shock. Furthermore, the new foot can reduce the maximum hip joint drive torque by shortening the moment arm length between the hip joint and the landing force vector on the ground. Intensive experiments were carried out in this study by using a one-leg walking model to investigate the soft landing performance of the foot which could be hardly offered by conventional robot feet such as a flat plate with a gimbal type ankle joint. And it was confirmed that the hip joint torque of the leg walking on the flat surface could be reduced remarkably by using the new foot.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.173-184
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• 2018

In human walking, muscle co-contraction which produces simultaneous activities of multiple muscles is important in motor control mechanism of the central nervous system. This study aims to understand positive and negative covariation mechanism of inter-muscle activities during walking. In this study, we measured electromyography (EMG) in leg muscles. To identify motor modules, we recored EMG from 4 leg muscles bilaterally (the tibialis anterior, medial gastrocnemius, rectus femoris and medial hamstring muscles) and performed non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) and principa component analysis (PCA). Then, we computed covariation values from various combinations between muscles or motor modules and used two-way repeated measures analysis of variance to identify significantly different covariation patterns between muscle combinations. As the results, we found significant differences between covariation values of muscle combinations (p < 0.05). muscle groups within the same motor modules produced the positive covariations. However, there were strong negative covariation between motor modules. There was negative covariation in all muscle combination. Stable inter-module negative covariation suggests that motor modules may be the control unit in the complex motor coordination.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.321-335
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• 2020

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of neck traction and foot type on plantar pressure distribution during walking. Method: Total of 24 data were collected from women working with a computer for more than 6 hours every day. Three groups by foot type were divided: Pes Planus, normal foot, and Pes Cavus. Depending on the foot type and cervical traction, plantar pressure variables were measured; CA, MF, PP, and CT. Each variable was divided into 12 masks. MANOVA was performed for the difference of plantar pressure variables by foot type, and a paired t-test was performed for the cervical traction within groups. Results: The total CA decreased in the Pes Planus (p<.001) and Pes Cavus (p<.05) groups. MF increased in the big toe (p<.01) and 2nd toe (p<.05) of the normal foot, and MF-3rd metatarsal decreased (p<.01). The MF-2nd toe (p<.01) and 3rd toe (p<.05) of Pes Cavus decreased. The PP decreased in 2nd toe (p<.05), 3rd toe (p<.01), and 4th toe (p<.05) of the Pes Cavus. In normal foot, the PP-3rd metatarsal (p<.05) and PP-4th metatarsal (p<.01) reduced. In Pes Planus, PP decreased in the hindfoot (p<.05). In Pes Cavus group wearing a neck-tractor, the CT-hindfoot increased (p<.05). Conclusion: There was a significant change in the plantar pressure change by foot type after neck traction. When walking with a neck-tractor, the heel impact was alleviated in the Pes Planus, and the Pes Cavus showed the smooth and effective propulsion in the push-off. Overall, weight acceptance was effectively performed when walking with neck-traction. It was also found that the neck-tractor corrects the alignment of the neck, thereby creating a more stable gait pattern.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.137.3-137
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• 2001

Many locomotion purpose robots are being built and are under research such as mobile manipulator and biped humanoid robot, etc. Dynamic posture stability of these robots is based on the ZMP point. For getting stable ZMP trajectory, some method has been developed but is too complex and time consuming which leads to inability in generating on-line ZMP trajectory. In this paper, we give a qualitative study about behavior of ZMP in biped walking robot through visualization. This result gives intuitive understanding about behavior of ZMP under various robot state.

• Journal of Platform Technology
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.23-30
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• 2018

A motion pattern generation is a process of calculating a certain stable motion trajectory for stably operating a certain motion. A motion control is to make a posture of a robot stable by eliminating occurring disturbances while a robot is in operation using a pre-generated motion pattern. In this paper, a general method of motion pattern generation for a biped walking robot using universal approximator, learning neural networks, is proposed. Existing techniques are numerical methods using recursive computation and approximating methods which generate an approximation of a motion pattern by simplifying a robot's upper body structure. In near future other approaches for the motion pattern generations will be applied and compared as to be done.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.162.2-162
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• 2001

This paper presents the stability analysis of a biped robot IWR-III. We use a foot-rotation indicator(FRI) concept to reveal the degree of stability. The foot rotation can be a barometer of postural instability, which should be carefully treated in implementing a dynamically stable walk and avoided altogether in performing a statically stable walk. The conventionally mentioned zero moment point(ZMP) criterion may not be sufficient to express the stability of a biped robot. ZMP equation needs an assumption that the supporting foot is fixed firmly to the ground during the walking. Therefore, applying the FRI concept is more desirable when a biped robot is falling down ...

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.65-74
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• 2008

This paper deals with the path creation for stable action of a robot and transformation by using the fuzzy algorithm. Also, the obstacle detection and environmental analysis are performed by a stereo vision device. The robot decides the range and the height using the fuzzy algorithm. Therefore the robot can be adapted in topography through a transformation by itself. In this paper, the robot is designed to have two advantages. One is the fast movability in flat topography with the use of wheels. The other is the moving capability in uneven ground by walking. It has six leg forms for a stable walk. The wheels are fixed on the legs of the robot, so that various driving is possible. The height and the width of robot can be changed variously using four joints of each leg. The wheeled joint has extra DOF for a rotation of vertical axis. So the robot is able to rotate through 360 degrees. The robot has various sensors for checking the own state. The stable action of a robot is achieved by using sensors. We verified the result of research through an experiment.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.4 s.175
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• pp.1007-1015
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• 2000

This paper proposes an adaptive trajectory generation strategy of using on-line ZMP information and an impedance control method for biped robots. Since robots experience various disturbances during their locomotion, their walking mechanism should have the robustness against those disturbances, which requires an on-line adaptation capability. In this context, an on-line trajectory planner is proposed to compensate the required moment for recovering stability. The ZMP equation and sensed ZMP information are used in this trajectory generation strategy. In order to control a biped robot to be able to walk stably, its controller should guarantee stable footing at the moment of feet contacts with the ground as well as maintaining good trajectory tracking performance. Otherwise, the stability of robot will be significantly compromised. To reduce the magnitude of an impact and guarantee a stable footing when a foot contacts with the ground, this paper. proposes to increase the damping of the leg drastically and to modify the reference trajectory of the leg. In the proposed control scheme, the constrained leg is controlled by impedance control using the impedance model with respect to the base link. Computer simulations performed with a 3-dof environment model that consists of combination of a nonlinear and linear compliant contact model show that the proposed controller performs well and that it has robustness against unknown uneven surface. Moreover, the biped robot with the proposed trajectory generator can walk even when it is pushed with a certain amount of external force.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.20-27
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• 2022

Background: The purpose of the present study was to determine whether balance training combined with light touch improves the postural sway and gait speed in stroke patients. Design: Randomized Controlled Trial Study Methods: The current study included 40 stroke patients, who were randomly divided into two groups: the balance training with light touch (LT) group (n=20) and the balance training with heavy touch (HT) group (n=20). Both groups performed balance training on a stable and unstable ground. Additionally, the LT group provided light touch stimulation, and the HT group provided heavy touch stimulation. All the participants underwent 20 sessions of STS training (thirty minutes, five days per week for four weeks). In this study, postural sway was measured using a force platform, and walking speed was measured using a 10 meter walk test. Results: The improvements in postural sway and gait speed were observed to be significantly greater in the LT group, compared to the HT group (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of the current study imply that balance training combined with light touch is a beneficial and effective therapeutic modality that can be employed to improve the postural sway and gait speed in stroke patients.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.235-243
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• 2012

In this study, we developed two legged multi-joint robot by using wireless servo motor that was applied by wireless sensor network technology, which is widely used recently, and performed an experiment of walking method of two legged multi-joint robot. We constructed the star network with servo motors which were used at each joint of two-legged robot. And we designed the robot for operation by transmission of joint control signal from main control system or by transmission of the status of each joint to the main control system, so it operates with continuously checking the status of joints at same time. We developed the humanoid robot by using wireless digital servo motor which is different from existing servo motor control system, and controlled it by transmitting the information of angles and speeds of robot joints to the motor(node) as a feedback through main control system after connecting power and setting up the IDs to each joint. We solved noisy problem generated from wire and wire length to connection point of the control device by construction of the wireless network instead of using existing control method of wiring, and also solved problem of poor real time response to gait motion by controlling the position with continuous transmission of control signals to each joint. And we found that the effective control of robot is able by performing the simulation on walking motion in advance with the developed control algorithm which was downloaded into installed memory. Also we performed the stable walking with two-legged robot by attaching pressure sensor to robot sole. And we examined the robot gait operated by application of calculated algorithm on robot movement to each joint. In this study, we studied the method of controlling robot gait motion by using wireless servo motors and measured the torque applied to each joint, and found that the developed wireless servo motor by ZigBee sensor network offers easier control of two legged robot gait and better circuit configuration of it than the existing wired control system could do.