• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.38 no.12
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• pp.1007-1013
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• 1989

This paper describes the procedure of kinmatic design of a quadruped walking machine which has better mobility and higher energy efficiency than the wheeled or tracked vehicles on the rough terrain. Specifically, this paper puts much emphasis on the procedure and its rationality of the design of the leg which is the key mechanical element of the walking robot. And it shows the appropriateness of the selected mechanism and the design method through the walking experiment of the prototype machine built upon the resulted design. The pantograph mechanisms are proved to be acceptable as the leg of the walking machine from the experiment even though it is indicated that the walking speed and the body deflection should be improved further. This paper also describes the problems of the realization of the gait the frictional effects along with their causes in the walking experiment.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.157-167
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• 1998

In this paper it is purpose that reduces joint torques and their rate of change through optimizing trajectory planning of biped walking machine. The motion of biped walking machine is divided into leg motion for walking and body motion for keeping balance. The leg motion is planned by three phases, that are deploy, swing, and place phases, in terms of the state of foot against floor. The distribution of time assigned to each phase is optimized and that causes leg joint torques and their rate of change to minimize. The body notion is produced by using optimal control theory which minimizes body joint torques and satisfies Z.M.P. constraints defined as region of each phase.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.926-934
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• 2006

This paper proposes intelligent control of a virtual walking machine that can generate infinite floor for various surfaces and can provide proprioceptive feedback of walking to a user. This machine allows users to participate in a life-like walking experience in virtual environments with various terrains. The controller of the machine is implemented hierarchically, at low-level for robust actuator control, at mid-level fur platform control to compensate the external forces by foot contact, and at high-level control for generating walking trajectory. The high level controller is suggested to generate continuous walking on an infinite floor for various terrains. For the high level control, each independent platform follows a man foot during the swing phase, while the other platform moves back during single stance phase. During double limb support, two platforms manipulate neutral positions to compensate the offset errors generated by velocity changes. This control can, therefore, satisfy natural walking conditions in any direction. Transition phase between the swing and the stance phases is detected by using simple switch sensor system, while human foot motions are sensed by careful calibration with a magnetic motion tracker attached to the shoe. Experimental results of walking simulations at level ground, slope, and stairs, show that with the proposed machine, a general person can walk naturally on various terrains with safety and without any considerable disturbances. This interface can be applied to various areas such as VR navigations, rehabilitation, and gait analysis.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.10 no.11
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• pp.1044-1051
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• 2004

This paper described a novel locomotion interface that can generate infinite floor for various surface, named as virtual walking machine. This interface allows users to participate in a life-like walking experience in virtual environments, which include various terrains such as plains, slopes and stair ground surfaces. The interface is composed of two three-DOF (X, Y, Yaw) planar devices and two four-DOF (Pitch, Roll, Z, and relative rotation) footpads. The planar devices are driven by AC servomotors for generating fast motions, while the footpad devices are driven by pneumatic actuators for continuous support of human weight. To simulate natural human walking, the locomotion interface design specification are acquired based on gait analysis and each mechanism is optimally designed and manufactured to satisfy the given requirements. The designed locomotion interface allows natural walking(step: 0.8m, height: 20cm, load capability: 100kg, slope:30deg) for various terrains.

• 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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• 2000.10a
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• pp.42-42
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• 2000

This paper concerns an efficient aperiodic static crab walking algorithm for quadruped walking machine in rough terrain. In this algorithm, the requirements for forward stability margin and backward stability margin could be given differently in order to consider the slope of terrain and disturbances resulting from moving velocity. To restrict the searing regions for motion variables, such as moving distances until a leg is lifted or is placed, the standard leg transferring sequence is decided to be that of wave gaits. standard support pattern is also proposed that enables the quadruped to continue forward motion using the standard leg transferring sequence without falling into deadlock.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 1996.04a
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• pp.151-155
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• 1996

In this paper, the continuous motion of a quadrupedal walking machine was studied. The motion planning which is able a walking machine body to precisely follow a three-dimensional curve was developed. A three-dimensional curve was designed based on Bezier curve and obstacle avoidance considerations. Due to the arbitrary motion direction during walking, special strategies of gaits were developed to ensure positive stability. The gait strategies were based on wave and wave-crab gait.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.81-90
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• 2003

This study was conducted to assess the effects of the gait training method in incomplete spinal cord injured persons using an auto-walking machine. Persons with incomplete spinal cord injury level C or D on the American Spinal Injury Association impairment scale participated for eight weeks in an auto-walking training program. The gait training program was carried out for 15 minutes, three times per day for 8 weeks with an auto-walking machine. The foot rests of the auto-walking machine can be moved forward, downward, backward and upward to make the gait pattern with fixed on crank. The patient's body weight is supported by a harness during waking training. We evaluated the gait speed, physiologic cost index, motor score of lower extremities and the WISCI (walking index for spinal cord injury) level before the training and after the forth and eighth week of walking training. 1. The mean gait speed was significantly increased from .22 m/s at pre-training to .28 m/s after 4 weeks of training and .31 m/s after 8 weeks of training (p=.004). 2. The mean physiologic cost index was decreased from 4.6 beats/min at pre-training to 3.0 beats/min after 4 weeks and 2.0 beats/min after 8 weeks of training, but it was not statistically significant (p=.140). 3. The mean motor score of lower extrernities was significantly increased from 29.8 to 35.8 after 8 weeks of training (p=.043). 4. The mean WISCI level was significantly increased from level 10 to level 19 after 8 weeks of training (p=.007). The results of this study suggest that the gait training program using the auto-walking machine increased the gait speed, muscle strength and galt pattern (WISCI level) in persons with incomplete spinal cord injury. A large, controlled study of this technique is warranted.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.93-103
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• 2019

This study analyzed the impact of smartphone usage on walking speed during walking on two pedestrian walkways in Daejeon Metropolitan City. For the analysis, the video data about the actual use of smartphone was acquired and the walking speed was calculated based on the walking density of the pedestrian Level Of Service(LOS) presented in the Road Capacity Manual. Multiple regression analysis and decision tree using machine learning were used to analyze the impact of smartphone usage on walking speed, and as the explanatory variables, gender, disable smartphone, use of smartphone using auditory function, use of smartphone using visual function, LOS A, LOS B, LOS C were adopted. The result showed that LOS C had the highest impact on walking speed change and the women's group using their visual function was founded to have the slowest walking speed in LOS C. In particular, the author found that walking speed significantly decreased in the case of use of visual function rather than listening to music or the hearing on the phone.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 1991.11a
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• pp.146-154
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• 1991

As the application of robotic systems expand its scope, more research efforts are given in providing mobility to the robotic systems so that they can travel across various paths including those with formidable obstacles such as stairways or rough terrains. Legged locomotion is mainly concerned because the walking motion, like that of animal behavior, has many advantages over wheel type or track type locomotion especially in rough terrain. Walking robot, in general, having a discrete number of legs, have inherently low static stability. Static stability can be increased to a certain degree, by improving walking method, but it has many limitations such as reduced travel speed. A very promising possibility lies in the use of balancing weight, nevertheless its actual implementation is very rare. In this study, a 4-legged walking machine is developed and the static stability margin is increased with the balancing weight. In the future, this robot will be used to take an experiment on the walking in mush terrain.