Approach in Assisting a Sit-to-Stand Movement Using Robotic Walking Support System

This paper presents an approach in assisting a sit-to-stand movement using a robotic walking support system. In general, robotic walking support system is used to provide walking stability. We will extend its function to assist a user in executing a sit-to-stand movement. The first approach would be called passive support. In this approach, the support system would be stationary as the user execute the sit-to-stand movement. The knee torque would be determined and this would be compared to a sit-to-stand movement without support. The second approach would be called active support and the knee torque would be supported. A motion control algorithm would be proposed such that the support system will move based on the supporting torque. The actual experimentation on both approaches in assisting a sit-to-stand movement will be presented. The experimental result on active support shows the validity of the proposed motion control algorithm