Smart Walking Assist Control System for Autonomous Patient Motion Following
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current walking rehabilitation platforms require constant therapist intervention for balance training, which is physically intensive and unsustainable, necessitating a system that can autonomously follow the patient's motion and reduce therapist control.
Innovation Solution
A control system that processes user position, force exertion, and environmental data to generate control signals for the platform's actuators, allowing partial or full handover of control to the patient, using strut deflection angles to determine user intentions and adjust platform movement accordingly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the therapist manually controls the platform speed and rotation, then the patient receives supervised balance training, but the therapist's physical workload increases and cannot sustain constant monitoring
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables the platform to automatically follow the patient's motion by detecting strut deflection angles and generating control signals without continuous therapist intervention. The control system processes user position, force exertion, and environmental data to autonomously adjust platform movement, allowing the system to serve itself rather than requiring constant manual control.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system continuously monitors strut deflection angles and other sensor data to detect patient motion intentions. This feedback loop allows the system to adapt platform movement in real-time to the patient's actual needs, maintaining safety while reducing therapist workload through automated response to patient actions.
2Productivity
If the platform actively follows the patient's motion, then the rehabilitation process becomes more efficient and longer duration is possible, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is divided into functional modules: user intention determination subsystem, central control subsystem, and drivetrain control subsystem. Each module processes specific inputs and generates specific outputs, making the complex system more manageable and maintainable while achieving automated platform following.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system integrates multiple functions into a single unified system: it processes strut deflection data, determines user intentions, generates control signals, and coordinates platform movement. This multi-functional approach consolidates complexity into one system rather than requiring separate systems for each function.
3Measurement precision
If the system uses multiple sensors to determine user position and intentions, then the accuracy of motion following improves, but the measurement and detection difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system combines data from multiple sensors (strut deflection angles, user position, force exertion) into a unified representation of user intention. By merging these measurements through the control system's processing algorithms, the complexity of handling individual sensor signals is reduced while maintaining high measurement precision.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This system reduces therapist workload by enabling controlled autonomy of the rehabilitation platform, allowing it to intuitively follow the patient's motion and adapt to their intentions, thus facilitating longer and more efficient rehabilitation processes without constant monitoring.
Implementation Method 1
These struts are mounted to the base frame of the device using adjustable helical springs, which allow the therapist to select the amount of physical support of the patient during training by changing the spring's compliance. The patient is given ability to lean forward, backward and sideways and/or rotate in the pelvic region. This movement provokes the helical springs to bend from vertical position, producing a stabilizing force on the patient.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
The invention deals with the control system design, inclusion and implementation in a smart walking assist system. The walking assist system comprises a platform with a U-shaped base frame (13) and two wheels driven by drivetrain units (8, 9) and with two un-actuated wheels (10, 11); a user-supporting system comprising a pair of vertical struts (3, 5) attached by means of elastic connecting joints (6, 7) to the base frame (13), a horizontal strut (2) that interconnects the vertical struts (3, 5) on the upper end thereof, and a user harness (4) attached to the horizontal strut (2), wherein the elastic connecting joints (6, 7) allow the pivotal deflection of the struts (3, 5) from the neutral vertical position (17); a control system; and a device for measuring the deflections of the struts (3, 5), wherein the control system enables the platform to actively follow the intended motion of the user on the basis of a signal received from the device.