Prosthetic legs improved with robot control theory

In research published in IEEE Transactions on Robotics, wearers of the robotic leg could walk on a moving treadmill almost as fast as an able-bodied person.

‘We borrowed from robot control theory to create a simple, effective new way to analyse the human gait cycle,’ said Dr. Robert Gregg, a faculty member in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and lead author of the paper. ‘Our approach resulted in a method for controlling powered prostheses for amputees to help them move in a more stable, natural way than current prostheses.’

According to the university, humanoid robots can walk, run, jump and climb stairs autonomously, but modern prosthetics limit similar actions in humans. While prosthetics have been made lighter and more flexible, they fail to mimic the power generated from human muscles in able-bodied individuals. Powered prostheses, or robotic legs, have motors to generate force, but lack the intelligence to stably respond to disturbances or changing terrain.