• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.823-826
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• 2010

In this study, the control method of assistive robot was developed for the elderly. The control method of gait-assistant-robot was proposed considering the change of COP (Center of Pelves), BOS (Base of Support) and comparative analysis of the moving velocity for the elderly. We analyzed the movement of COP of the body and its velocity of the elderly equipped with manual walker and gait-assistant-robot. As a result, change in COP was greater from left to right than from anterior to posterior; also, the average velocity of the movement of COP and manual walker for manual walker gait was 0.7(m/s). Therefore, it is necessary to concern more on the left-right balance and synchronization of the velocity of COP.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.294-301
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• 2010

In order to produce a convenient robot for the aged and the lower limb disabled, it is needed for the research detecting implicit walking intention and controlling robot by a user's intention. In this study, we developed sensor module system to control the walking- assist robot using FSR sensor and tilt sensor, and analyzed the signals being acquired from two sensors. The sensor module system consisted of the assist device control unit, communication unit by wire/wireless, information collection unit, information operation unit, and information processing PC which handles integrated processing of assist device control. The FSR sensors attached user's the palm and the soles of foot are sensing force/pressure signals from these areas and are used for detecting the walking intention and states. The tilt sensor acquires roll and pitch signal from area of vertebrae lumbales and reflects the pose of the upper limb. We could recognize the more detailed user's walking intention such as 'start walking', 'start of right or left foot forward', and 'stop walking' by the combination of FSR and tilt signals can recognize.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.562-568
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• 2016

This study to investigated the therapeutic effect of robot-assisted rehabilitation (Lokomat) with virtual reality (VR) on Pusher syndrome (PS) after stroke. A total of 10 patients presented with PS after stroke were recruited. The participants were divided into two groups: Lokomat (n=5) and control groups (n=5). Lokomat and conventional physical therapy (CPT) were performed together in the experimental group, and the patients in the control group were treated with CPT only twice a day. One session of intervention was carried out for 30 minutes five times per week for 4 weeks. Scale for contraversive pushing (SCP), Berg balance scale (BBS), falling index (FI), and Timed up and go test (TUG) were measured before and after the intervention. The Lokomat group produced significantly better outcomes in SCP (p=0.046), BBS (p=0.046), FI (p=0.038), and TUG (p=0.038) compared with the control group after 4 weeks of intervention. In addition, there were significant correlations between SCP and BBS (p=0.024), FI (p=0.039), and TUG (p=0.030). In conclusion, Lokomat with VR more effectively aided recovery from PS after stroke, and restoration of PS symptoms was related with improvement of balance and gait function.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.867-868
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• 2013

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2011.06a
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• pp.1595-1596
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• 2011

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1107-1119
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• 2020

This study analyzed a subject's body reaction and subjective sensation when wearing a gait-assistive rehabilitation robot. The research method measured skin and clothing surface temperatures for 'seating-standing' and 'walking in place' exercises after wearing a gait-assistive rehabilitation robot. In addition, subjective sensation and satisfaction were evaluated on a 7-point Likert scale. The study results showed that the average skin temperature during exercise while wearing the gait-assistive rehabilitation robot was within a comfortable range. However, during the 'seating-standing' exercise, the skin temperature was slightly lowered. Additionally, the clothing surface temperature tended to be lower than the pre-exercise temperature after all exercises. The subjective sensation evaluation results showed that the wear comfort of the waist part was low during mobility/activity. In addition, an overall improvement in the wear comfort of the robot is necessary. The short-time movement of wearing and walking in the gait-assistive rehabilitation robot did not interfere with the thermal comfort of the body. However, the robot needs to be ergonomically improved in consideration of the long wearing time along with improved material that to satisfy overall wearing comfort.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.860-865
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• 2010

This paper deals with gait assisting rehabilitation robot which helps SCI patient walk again. We propose new concept of orthotic for robot considering motions of Hip and Knee Joints, and how to fit the robot to a user in terms of weight balance and comfortable standing. Then we describe our first engineering sample being designed based on the passive orthotic and show how to make the robot work for SCI patient in basic operation.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.144-151
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• 2017

An important characteristic of people with partially impaired walking ability, such as incomplete paraplegics, is that they are able to generate voluntary motion of lower-limbs. Therefore, wearable robots for the incomplete paraplegic patients require a different assistance method compared to those of complete paraplegics. First, the wearable robot should be controlled to not resist wearer's motion. Second, it should be able to generate assistive torque accurately when needed. In this paper, a wearable robot, called EROWA, for the incomplete paraplegic patients is introduced. EROWA utilizes compact rotary series elastic actuators (cRSEAs) and a control method called the zero impedance control to reduce the mechanical resistance. An assistive torque trajectory is proposed to assist gait in this paper. The proposed method is verified by simulation and experimental studies.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.393-398
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• 2021

As society becomes more complex and advanced, the risk of accidents is inevitably increased, and this is an opportunity to increase the occurrence of not only congenital disabilities but also acquired disabilities. In this situation, the use of rehabilitation robots, a complex of advanced technologies, is expected to increase steadily in the future. So the authors would take a look the technological trends and future development prospects of domestic and foreign rehabilitation robots. Until now, disability assistive robot technology has been mainly developed in the field of supporting disability with walking disabilities or work limitations rather than cognitive disabilities. However, another issue of population aging is that cognitive impairment has the potential to increase, so development of a disability assistance robot that secures user safety must be actively promoted. It is thought that empirical results should be derived and converged

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.465-472
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• 2009

This paper proposes a multimodal information transformation system that converts the image information to the voice information to provide the sight impaired people with walking area and obstacles, which are extracted by an acquired image from a single CCD camera. Using a chain-code line detection algorithm, the walking area is found from the vanishing point and boundary of a sidewalk on the edge image. And obstacles are detected by Gabor filter of extracting vertical lines on the walking area. The proposed system expresses the voice information of pre-defined sentences, consisting of template words which mean walking area and obstacles. The multi-modal information transformation system serves the useful voice information to the sight impaired that intend to reach their destination. The experiments of the proposed algorithm has been implemented on the indoor and outdoor environments, and verified its superiority to exactly provide walking parameters sentences.