Adaptive guidance system design for the assistive robotic walker

As seniors are the fastest growing populations in the world, walking assistive robots have recently received much attention. In this paper, we proposed an effective motion guidance system equipped upon a robotic walking assistant to emulate the biological rhythm for the practical daily use. This system consists of a pair of force-sensing handles for measuring user's applied force and an intelligent learning scheme to derive the proper driving force from the measured grip force. The handles are designed to be of low cost and with high reliability. The learning scheme is combined with an assistive strategy offering adaptive motion guidance for the various elderly in walking. The feasibility of the proposed system is demonstrated via a series of movement assistance experiments based on a developed walking robot. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.