Design and Benchtop Validation of a Powered Knee-Ankle Prosthesis with High-Torque, Low-Impedance Actuators.

ABSTRACT: This paper describes the design of a powered knee- and-ankle transfemoral prosthetic leg, which implements high torque density actuators with low-reduction transmissions. The low reduction of the transmission coupled with a high-torque and low-speed motor creates an actuator with low mechanical impedance and high backdrivability. This style of actuation presents several possible benefits over modern actuation styles implemented in emerging robotic prosthetic legs. Such benefits include free-swinging knee motion, compliance with the ground, negligible unmodeled actuator dynamics, and greater potential for power regeneration. Benchtop validation experiments were conducted to verify some of these benefits. Backdrive and free-swinging knee tests confirm that both joints can be backdriven by sm

SUBMITTER: Elery T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6309177 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature