Energetic and Peak Power Advantages of Series Elastic Actuators in an Actuated Prosthetic Leg for Walking and Running

Actuators

Martin Grimmer¹  Mahdy Eslamy² 

[1] Lauflabor Locomotion Laboratory, Institute of Sports Science, TU Darmstadt, Magdalenenstr. 27, Darmstadt 64289, Germany;

关键词: series elastic actuator;    prosthetics;    human;    walking;    running;    peak power;    energy;    joint work;   

DOI  :  10.3390/act3010001

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

A monoarticular series elastic actuator (SEA) reduces energetic and peak power requirements compared to a direct drive (DD) in active prosthetic ankle-foot design. Simulation studies have shown that similar advantages are possible for the knee joint. The aims of this paper were to investigate the advantages of a monoarticular SEA-driven hip joint and to quantify the energetic benefit of an SEA-driven leg (with monoarticular hip, knee and ankle SEAs), assuming that damping (negative power) is passively achieved. The hip SEA provided minor energetic advantages in walking (up to 29%) compared to the knee and the ankle SEA. Reductions in required peak power were observed only for speeds close to preferred walking speed (18% to 27%). No energetic advantages were found in running, where a DD achieved the best performance when optimizing for energy. Using an SEA at each leg joint in the sagittal plane reduced the positive work by 14% to 39% for walking and by 37% to 75% for running. When using an SEA instead of a DD, the contribution of the three leg joints to doing positive work changed: the knee contributed less and the hip more positive work. For monoarticular SEAs, the ankle joint motor did most of the positive work.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.