A Pair of Walking Assistive Devices Based on the Arc Foot of Passive Walking Robot

Abstract

This paper designs and evaluates a pair of walking assistive devices based on the arc foot of a passive walking robot. We aim to enable elderly people to walk with less muscular strength. This device is a kind of shoe that has an arc-shaped sole designed in order not to occur speed loss when walking. The arc-shaped sole substitutes for the ankle joint of a human. In addition, RoS-shaped sole and improved-RoS-shaped sole were designed. We evaluated the effectiveness of the assistive devices using an electromyography and a motion capture. Through experiments we confirmed that those soles are effective for the calf and the improved-RoS-shaped sole is the best in terms of the muscle load and the stability of the body balance.