Abstract
Many hemiplegias use Ankle-foot orthosis to prevent falling when they walk. In order to support natural walking of hemiplegias, we develop a new ankle foot orthosis by using self-powered semi-active damper. A DC motor and step-up chopper circuit is used to regenerate energy. Theoretical analysis for electrical circuit and energy generation and gait experiment using this ankle foot orthosis are carried out. From the experimental results, it can be seen that this system can generate 80 percent of the consumed electric power.
