Abstract
It is known that a passive dynamic walk for a biped robot is stabilized by limiting its angle ofthe ankle of the stance leg. Since the passive dynamic walk has a similarity with a relaxed human walking, it is anticipated that the ankle angle limitation also contributes to stabilize a human walk. The purpose of this research is to realize this ankle angle limitation mechanism into human shoes, and investigate the effect of this shoes with the stabilization of human walk. In this paper, a simple configuration of the stabilized shoes is shown. In the shows, an angle of the ankle is limited by the attachment on a shin and a heel which are pulled together by a rubber sheet. A series of experiments were conducted to measure the stability of walking by recording integral EMG signals at the muscles that are known to posture control of a leg. The results showed that the muscles were less active during wearing the shoes with ankle angle limitation.
