• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.553-559
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• 2015

The purpose of this research is to develop a gait assistive device to enhance the gait stability and training efficiency of stroke patients. The configuration of this device is mainly composed of a motored wheel and a single cane whose lower end is attached to a motored wheel frame. A patient can feel haptic information from continuous ground contact from the wheel while walking through the grip handle. In addition, the wheeled cane can avoid using excessive use of the patient's upper limb for weight support and motivate the patient to use a paralyzed lower limb more actively. Moreover, the proposed device can provide intuitive and safe user interaction by integrating a force sensor and a tilt sensor equipped to the cane frame, and a switch sensor at the cane's handle. The admittance control has been implemented for the patient to change the walking speed intuitively by using the interaction forces at the handle. A hemi-paretic stroke patient participated in the walking assistive experiments as a pilot study to verify the effectiveness of the proposed haptic cane system. The results showed that the patient could improve walking speed and muscle activations during walking with a constant speed mode of the haptic cane. Moreover, the patient could maintain the preferred walking speeds and gait stability regardless of the magnitude of resistance forces with the admittance control mode of the haptic cane. The proposed robotic gait assistive device with a simple and intuitive mechanism can provide efficient gait training modes to stroke patients with high possibilities of widespread utilizations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2007

Purpose : This study is to determine effects of cane-shape which influenced on the change of muscle activation, gait component in hemiplegic patients caused by cerebrovascular accident. Methods : Twenty one stroke patients using T-shape cane(TCG) and twenty one stroke patients using I-shape cane(ICG) participated in this study. Surface electromyography(SEMG) of erector spinae, transvers abdominis, tibialis anterior, soleus of both side were measured during walking without cane and walking with cane. Results : The activation of tibialis anterior was significantly increased in affected side of ICG. The activation of tibialis anterior was significantly decreased in affected side of TCG. The activation of soleus was significantly increased in affected side of ICG. The activation of soleus was significantly decreased in affected side of TCG. The activation of erector spinae was significantly increased in nonaffected side of ICG and TCG. The activation of transvers abdominis was significantly increased in nonaffected side of ICG and TCG. Conclusion : From the finding of this study, it was suggested that I-shape cane increase weight bearing of affected side in hemiplegic patient. Therefore, I-shape cane can be applied to improve gait asymmetry of hemiplegic patients.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.99-111
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• 2012

The performance of ultrafiltration (UF) membranes with molecular weight cut off (MWCO) of 1000 and 3500 Da in clarifying sugar cane juice was investigated, as well as the performance of a nanofiltration (NF) membrane with MWCO of 200 Da and a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane in concentrating sugar cane juice. For both cases the sugar cane juice had been limed and partially clarified. The UF membranes were found to be effective at clarifying the sugar cane juice in terms of purity rise and reduction in turbidity, colour, starch and protein. A purity rise of approximately 6 was achieved by both UF membranes at trans-membrane pressures (TMP) from 15 to 25 bar. However, Brix reduction in the permeate was between 14.5 and 41.85% and 12.11 and 26.52% for 1000 Da and 3500 Da membranes respectively. For the 200 Da and RO membranes the Brix in the concentrate was increased from 7.65 to 12.3 after 3 hours of operation for the 200 Da membrane at a TMP of 10 bar, whilst the Brix in the concentrate was increased from 15.65 to 27.6 after 3 hours of operation for the RO membrane at a TMP of 35 bar. Overall, UF membranes were found to be unsuitable for clarification of sugar cane juice since significant amount of Brix is reduced in the permeate, whilst RO membranes were found to be effective for concentration of sugar cane juice.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.167-173
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• 2014

A white cane is used by many people who are blind or visually impaired. The studies and developments in the field of smart electronic white cane have been progressed to improve walking safety of the visually handicapped person. In this paper, we describe a situation-awareness white cane which support and guide walking of the visually handicapped person by giving information of surrounding situation through connection of a white cane and a mobile device. There are easily accessible buttons in the situation-awareness white cane. These buttons is connected with the mobile device by blue-tooth, so by pushing these buttons, the visually handicapped person can receive sound-guidance. As a result, the visually handicapped person can walk more safely by getting more information of situation.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.1260-1264
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• 2008

An official report printed in June, 2005 represents that there are 180 thousands people with visual impairments in Korea, and 10 thousands of people with visual impairments are newly increased by every year since 2000. They are neglected from getting education, selecting job, and enjoying recreation activity. Above all, they have strong restriction when they are walking on the street; they are facing difficulty and inconvenience. Many smart cane products were introduced but expensive cost blocked popularization of them. In this study we have an object to development of smart cane that is chip and proper for korean street. For this, we suggest basic design of smart cane and experiment on ultrasonic sensors for visually impaired person.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1900-1908
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• 2004

A human-friendly interactive system that is based on the harmonious symbiotic coexistence of human and robots is explored. Based on interactive technology paradigm, a robotic cane is proposed for blind or visually impaired travelers to navigate safely and quickly through obstacles and other hazards faced by blind pedestrians. Robotic aids, such as robotic canes, require cooperation between human and robots. Various methods for implementing the appropriate cooperative recognition, planning, and acting, have been investigated. The issues discussed include the interaction between humans and robots, design issues of an interactive robotic cane, and behavior arbitration methodologies for navigation planning.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.338-341
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• 2002

A human-friendly interactive system, based on the harmonious symbiotic coexistence of humans and robots, is explored. Based on this interactive technology paradigm, a robotic cane is designed to help blind or visually impaired travelers to navigate safely and quickly among obstacles and other hazards faced by blind pedestrians. We outline a set of the hardware solutions and working methodologies that can be used for successfully implementing and extending the interactive technology to complex environments, robots, and humans. The issues discussed include the interaction of human and robot, design issue of robotic cane, hardware requirements for efficient human-robot interaction.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.635-641
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• 2004

A human-friendly interactive system that is based on the harmonious symbiotic coexistence of human and robots is explored. Based on interactive technology paradigm, a robotic cane is proposed for blind or visually impaired travelers to navigate safely and quickly through obstacles and other hazards faced by blind pedestrians. Robotic aids, such as robotic canes, require cooperation between human and robots. Various methods for implementing the appropriate cooperative recognition, planning, and acting, have been investigated. The issues discussed include the interaction of human and robot, design issues of an interactive robotic cane, and behavior arbitration methodologies for navigation planning.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.250-257
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• 2018

Objecctives: This study investigates the effects of using customized walking aids individualized for stroke patients by measuring the effects of different cane lengths to determine the ideal length of walking aids for stroke patients. Methods: Cane lengths were determined from the greater trochanter with walking aids measured 5cm below, at the greater trochanter and 5cm above. All patients walked for ten meters with each cane length to measure speed. Then, we measured the opto gait, timed up go test, and electromyography three times each. Statistical analysis was performed using a linear mixed model, and in the case of significance, the p-value was corrected using the Bonferroni method. Results: There was a statistically significant differences in time up and go test(TUGT), 10m walking, stride and speed between the groups. Conclusions: Long cane length increases body symmetry, stride, increasing muscle activity, and short cane length increases balance and walking.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.119.6-119
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• 2002

$\textbullet$ Introduction $\textbullet$ A Robotic Cane "RoJi" $\textbullet$ Shared Navigation Control $\textbullet$ Autonomous Control Mode $\textbullet$ User Control Mode $\textbullet$ Navigation $\textbullet$ Summary