BIOMECHANICS INVOLVED IN

POWERED ANKLE–FOOT PROSTHESIS

 AIM

To analyse biomechanics of the Powered

Ankle–Foot Prosthesis and its effect in
improving walking metabolic economy
 PREVIEW
BASIC TERMINOLOGIES & ENGINEERING CHALLANGES

GAIT CYCLE & TECHNICAL CONSIDERATION

MECHANICAL CONSIDERATION

CONTROL CONSIDERATION

FINITE STATE CONTROL

EXPERIMENTAL WORK

FUTURE SCOPE
 BASIC TERMINOLOGIES
Basic Terminology

• Dorsiflexion and Plantarflexion refers to flexion

(dorsiflexion) or extension of the foot at the ankle.

Elastic Prosthetics-Overview

• mechanical properties remain fixed with walking

speed and terrain.
• comprise elastic bumper springs or carbon composite
leaf springs that store and release energy during the
stance period
HUMAN ANKLE Vs ELASTIC PROSTHETICS
• Expend 20–30% more metabolic power to walk
• 30–40% slower walking
• asymmetrical gait pattern
 ENGINEERING CHALLANGES
Mechanical Design
• Matching the size /weight of the
human ankle
• Large instantaneous power output and
torque to propel an amputee.
Control System Design
• Position and impedance controllable.
• Prosthetic control strategy is effective
for the improvement of amputee
ambulation(PID).

Objectives and Outline

• Exploits both series and parallel elasticity to fulfill the
demanding humanlike ankle specifications.
• Design finite-state machine that can provide both impedance
and position control for mimicking human ankle behavior.
 GAIT CYCLE
SWING (40%) STANCE (60%)

Controlled Controlled Powered plantar

plantar flexion Swing phase
dorsiflexion flexion

Linear Non Torque

Position
spring linear source Control
spring +Spring
 GAIT CYCLE:
TORQUE Vs ANGLE

The shank–ankle–foot complex of a 78 kg person weighs approximately 2 kg,

while the peak power and torque at the ankle during walking can be as high as
350 W and 140 N·m
 NORMAL Vs PROSTHETICS
MECHANICAL
Ankle angle is positive, the stiffness value is
set to KC D . When the ankle angle is
negative, the stiffness value is set to KC P
CONTROL
The second component comprises a
constant offset torque ∆τ that provides the
torque source during PP.
This offset torque is applied in addition to
the linear torsional spring KC D during PP.
 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
DIMENSIONS/
NOMENCLATURE SPECIFICATIONS

SIZE 18CM

MASS 2.5%OF BODY WEIGHT

MAX PLANTAR 25 DEGREES(FOOT

FLEXION LIFT)
MAX DORSIFLEXION 15 DEGREES(TERMINAL
CD)
VELOCITY 5 RAD/S

TORQUE 1.7 N-M/KG

POWER 3.5W/KG

TORQUE BANDWIDTH 3.5 HZS(50-140 NM)

NET POSITIVE WORK 0.10J/KG
 MECHANICAL
CONSIDERATIONS

Parallel and series elasticity.

• The parallel spring provides a biased, offset stiffness Kpr when the ankle angle is
larger than zero.
• The series spring combined with the motor and transmission used to modulate
joint stiffness and as a torque source for performing positive net work at the ankle
joint.
 MECHANICAL
CONSIDERATIONS
EQUATION OF MOTION

The motor is modeled as follows

• Torque source Tm
FORCE BANDWIDTH
• Rotary internal inertia Im
The damping term bm represents brush and bearing friction acting on
the motor, and kp is the stiffness of a unidirectional parallel spring.

Assumptions
• foot a rigid body of negligible mass
• foot mass is relatively small compared to the effective motor inertia.
• Neglect amplifier dynamics, nonlinear friction, and internal resonances.

Me = Im R2 , Fe = Tm R, and be = bm R.
 CONTROL
CONSIDERATIONS

Impedence
Controller

Torque
Controller

Position
Controller
 CONTROL
CONSIDERATIONS
Torque Controller

Impedence Controller

Position Controller
FINITE STATE CONTROL

T=TH1
EXPERIMENTAL
EXPERIMENTAL WORK
ANALYSIS

INFERENCE DRAWN
. WEIGHT>=2* WEIGHT ELASTIC
. COT INCR FROM 7% TO 20%
. PARALLEL/SERIES LINK INCREASED SHOCK
LOAD CAPABILITY
. SELF EXCITED SPEED INCREASED FROM 1.45 TO
1.68 M/S2
 FUTURE SCOPE

. WEIGHT
HIGHER
HIGHER SELF . OPTIMAL
POSITIVE WORK WALKING
EXCITED SPEED CONTROL
EFFICIENCY(20%)
SYSTEM DESIGN
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Samuel K. Au, Jeff Weber, and Hugh Herr,
Member, IEEE, “ Powered Ankle–Foot
Prosthesis Improves Walking Metabolic
Economy”, IEEE transactions, Vol. 25, NO. 1,
February 2009
• NPTEL lectures
Thank you