Control of a passive walker using a depth sensor for user state estimation

Author

Taghvaei, Sajjad ; Hirata, Yasuhisa ; Kosuge, Kazuhiro

Author_Institution

Dept. of Bioeng. & Robot., Tohoku Univ., Sendai, Japan

fYear

2011

Firstpage

1639

Lastpage

1645

Abstract

The motion of a passive type walker is controlled so that it can be used as a support for standing up, sitting down and also to prevent the user from falling down. A depth vision sensor is used to locate the centroid of the user´s upper body. A 2D probabilistic model of the location of the centroid is constructed based on the gathered data of the user during normal walking. A set of statistical normality tests assure the validity of such model. The state estimation method is experimented with a passive-type intelligent walker referred to as “RT Walker”, equipped with servo brakes.

Keywords

brakes; gait analysis; handicapped aids; image sensors; mobile robots; motion control; robot vision; servomechanisms; state estimation; statistical testing; 2D probabilistic model; RT Walker; depth vision sensor; passive walker motion control; passive-type intelligent walker; servo brakes; state estimation method; statistical normality tests; user falling down prevention; user state estimation; user upper body centroid location; Gaussian distribution; Legged locomotion; Probabilistic logic; Robot sensing systems; Servomotors; State estimation;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), 2011 IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

Karon Beach, Phuket

Print_ISBN

978-1-4577-2136-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ROBIO.2011.6181524

Filename

6181524