SmartLeg: An intelligent active robotic prosthesis for lower-limb amputees

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a worldwide interest in improvement of mobility of people with lower limb amputation. In spite of significant development of new technologies during the last decade, commercial below-knee and above-knee prostheses are still energetically passive devices. However, many locomotive functions, like walking up stairs and slopes, need significant power in knee and ankle joints. The additional power for doing previously mentioned activities needs to be achieved by means of external energy sources, which should be integral prosthetic components. This paper presents preliminary investigations towards an active robotic prosthesis that could potentially enable people with an above- or below-knee amputation to perform different types of motions that require power in lower limb joints. Our initial prototype, SmartLeg, integrates advanced prosthetic and robotic technology with the state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms capable of adapting the working of the prosthesis to the optimal gait and power consumption patterns, and which therefore provide means to customize the device to a particular user.