Advisor(s)

Constantinos Mavroidis

Date of Award

2009

Date Accepted

8-2009

Degree Grantor

Northeastern University

Degree Level

M.S.

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department or Academic Unit

College of Engineering. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.

Keywords

mechanical engineering, robotics, Gait, impedance, pelvis, rehabilitation

Subject Categories

Gait disorders, Medical instruments and apparatus, Robotics in medicine

Disciplines

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Two topics were studied: impedance control was implemented in a gait rehabilitation device, and a new improved enclosure was designed for the SHIMMER wireless sensor device.

Topic 1: The field of rehabilitation robotics has been growing fast in the last several years, with devices designed to target primary gait deviations in stroke survivors and other subjects with impaired motor function. To our knowledge, no commercially available devices address secondary gait deviations in the pelvic motion. Therefore, a team of undergraduate students had designed and built the Robotic Gait Rehabilitation (RGR) Trainer II, a robotic rehabilitation device designed to interface with the pelvic area for treadmill gait retraining. Studies have shown that the preferred method for retraining post-stroke subjects to regain motor function is by applying force fields to the targeted body components. In the field of robotics and automatic controls, force-fields are often realized by means of impedance control. Therefore, an end-point impedance controller was designed at the actuator level, and implemented in the RGR Trainer at the pelvic obliquity level. Human testing using true pelvic obliquity trajectory has shown that the system applies corrective forces to the pelvis according to the applied force-field.

Topic 2: In this design study, the plastic enclosure of the SHIMMER wireless sensor device was redesigned in order to improve its functionality. As a result, the SHIMMER's operating time was nearly doubled, and the noise level in the acquired data was reduced.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights Holder

Maciej Dariusz Pietrusinski


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