Model Predictive Control for Human-Centred Lower Limb Robotic Assistance - Université Paris-Est-Créteil-Val-de-Marne
Journal Articles IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics Year : 2021

Model Predictive Control for Human-Centred Lower Limb Robotic Assistance

Christopher Caulcrick
Weiguang Huo
Enrico Franco
Will Hoult
  • Function : Author
Ravi Vaidyanathan

Abstract

Loss of mobility and/or balance resulting from neural trauma is a critical public health issue. Robotic exoskeletons hold great potential for rehabilitation and assisted movement. However, the synergy of robot operation with human effort remains a problem. In particular, optimal assist-as-needed (AAN) control remains unresolved given pathological variance among patients. We introduce a model predictive control (MPC) architecture for lower limb exoskeletons that achieves on-the-fly transitions between modes of assistance. The architecture implements a fuzzy logic algorithm (FLA) to map key modes of assistance based on human involvement. Three modes are utilised: passive, for human relaxed and robot dominant; active-assist, for human cooperation with the task; and safety, in the case of human resistance to the robot. Electromyography (EMG) signals are further employed to predict the human torque. EMG output is used by the MPC for trajectory following and by the FLA for decision making. Experimental validation using a 1-DOF knee exoskeleton demonstrates the controller tracking a sinusoidal trajectory with relaxed, assistive, and resistive operational modes. Results demonstrate rapid and appropriate transfers among the assistance modes, and satisfactory AAN performance in each case, offering a new level of human-robot synergy for mobility assist and rehabilitation.

Dates and versions

hal-04032902 , version 1 (16-03-2023)

Identifiers

Cite

Christopher Caulcrick, Weiguang Huo, Enrico Franco, Samer Mohammed, Will Hoult, et al.. Model Predictive Control for Human-Centred Lower Limb Robotic Assistance. IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics, 2021, 3 (4), pp.980-991. ⟨10.1109/TMRB.2021.3105141⟩. ⟨hal-04032902⟩

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