Adaptive Control of Foot Orthosis

Abstract: Major problems of the Foot Drop treatment are expensive and complex solutions. This work presents the performance of a new inexpensive method named as Semi-Active Ankle Foot Orthosis (SAAFO). The concept of this approach is to use inexpensive sensors to detect foot step movement. The signals from the sensors afterwards will be fed to a control system of SAAFO in runtime for a smooth foot movement of a drop foot patient while walking. Different sensors have been studied in detail along with comparison to the proposed sensor system and mechanical design. The signals from the sensors are used to detect different phases of human walking. These sensors are placed at different positions on an orthosis and their signals are studied in detail. Experiments have been done in different conditions to get a realistic picture either this assembly can be implemented commercially. Signals are plotted and discussed yielding that the human walking phases can be easily and accurately detected using inexpensive sensor assembly.