Fuzzy Control of a New Tendon-Driven Exoskeletal Power Assistive Device

This paper proposes a tendon-driven exoskeletal power assistive device to reduce some problems of the existing exoskeletal power assistive equipment. In addition, this paper suggests a caster walker carrying heavy peripheral devices and maintaining stable balance of the user at the same time. A muscle fiber expansion signal is used to control this device in order to compensate for the delay time of motors and perform an easy assistance by sensing the user's action in advance. The muscle fiber expansion signal has the characteristics that the signal is ahead of action and in proportion to joint torque. A fuzzy control method is applied to control the proposed exoskeletal assistive device. This paper also describes a number of action tests such as sitting, standing, and walking. The experimental results were quantitatively evaluated by comparing the EMG signal before and after wearing of the proposed exoskeletal assistive device.

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