Shared walk environment using locomotion interfaces
CSCW '00 Proceedings of the 2000 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work
Design and Analysis of a Novel Virtual Walking Machine
HAPTICS '03 Proceedings of the 11th Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems (HAPTICS'03)
International Journal of Robotics Research
A Vibrotactile Device for Display of Virtual Ground Materials in Walking
EuroHaptics '08 Proceedings of the 6th international conference on Haptics: Perception, Devices and Scenarios
A reactive robotized interface for lower limb rehabilitation: clinical results
IEEE Transactions on Robotics - Special issue on rehabilitation robotics
Optimized passive dynamics improve transparency of haptic devices
ICRA'09 Proceedings of the 2009 IEEE international conference on Robotics and Automation
A Planar Symmetric Walking Cancellation Algorithm for a Foot-Platform Locomotion Interface
International Journal of Robotics Research
Gilded gait: reshaping the urban experience with augmented footsteps
UIST '10 Proceedings of the 23nd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology
Preliminary experiment combining virtual reality haptic shoes and audio synthesis
EuroHaptics'10 Proceedings of the 2010 international conference on Haptics - generating and perceiving tangible sensations: Part II
Influence of auditory and haptic feedback on a balancing task
International Journal of Autonomous and Adaptive Communications Systems
Applied Bionics and Biomechanics - Human-Robot Interaction/Interface
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This paper presents a new haptic locomotion interface, which comprises two programmable foot platforms with permanent foot machine contact. It is designed as a scalable and modular system with unit-by-unit extensibility offering up to six plus one degrees of freedom (DOF) per foot. The basic setup comprises three DOF per foot in the sagittal plane.The machine is based on a rigid hybrid parallel-serial robot kinematics structure. It is equipped with electrical direct drive motors, enabling highly dynamic footplate motions. For contact force measurement, six DOF force/torque sensors are mounted under each foot platform. The system was developed for major application in gait rehabilitation, hence great importance was attached to the incorporation of maximum passive and active security measures for machine users and medical operating personnel.The simulator is able to perform walking trajectories with speeds of up to 5 km/h and 120 steps/min. The system is able to simulate not only slow and “smooth” trajectories like walking on an even floor, up/down staircases, but also foot motions like walking on rough ground or even stumbling or sliding, which require high system dynamics.The machine is controlled by a self-developed full-featured robot control whose soft and hardware is based on up-to-date industrial standards and interfaces. The robot control software is based on RTLinux and runs on an industrial PC. The real-time motion generator includes a newly developed Fourier-based algorithm for the interpolation of natural cyclic walking trajectories. For the implementation of asynchronous events (e.g., sliding, stumbling), the controller comprises especially developed algorithms for automatic motion override adaptation. Different modes of haptic behavior needed for gait rehabilitation, ranging from full foot support during swing phase to completely passive behavior, are currently under development.Intuitive and safe machine operation by nontechnical personnel such as clinicians and physiotherapists is achieved via a separate Windows-based graphical user interface software comprising different window areas for machine programming and operation, real-time off-line simulation and online data visualization in two and three dimensions has been developed as well.A working prototype of the system has been built and tested successfully, including all soft and hardware components. Although the machine has been designed and built for major application in gait rehabilitation, its range of applicability is not limited to this area. It could be integrated into any setup requiring a highly dynamic haptic foot interface and permanent foot machine contact if needed.