Design of a Robotic Device Based on Human Gait for Dynamical Tests in Orthopedic Prosthesis

In this work, the mechanical project of a machine for tests in transtibial prosthesis is proposed. The system is developed as a robotic mechanism that executes movements above the prosthesis to reproduce the human gait. However, instead of usual devices that implement a model for a single axis movement, this work employs a user similar gait to test a prosthetic device. Thus, this approach is more realistic, as it allows the test of a prosthesis for different types of gaits and different global movements, such as the climbing of a stair. To accomplish this objective, three steps are proposed. Firstly, image analysis is extracted from human gait. Then, the movements are converted to the mechanism’s joint angles. Finally, the robot performs the gait based on these angles. Although it is an initial approach, open-loop simulations demonstrate that it is useful for the study of the dynamics of an orthopedic prosthesis, as well as to perform fatigue analysis of this kind of equipment and even to verify the integrity of the prosthesis to guarantee the user’s safety.