A DAMPING CONTROL METHOD FOR LOWER-LIMB PROSTHESES

Abstract

A damping control method for lower-limb prosthesis, comprising the following steps: Isolate the driving motor of the transmission structure from the driving voltage; The motor is driven to rotate by the force that results from the locomotion of human's CoM (Center of Mass), and generates alternating induced voltage, when the motor behaves as a generator; Connect the output terminals of the motor with a full-bridge rectification circuit that is made of Schottky diodes to transform the alternating induced voltage to direct-current voltage; Connect the output terminals of the rectification circuit with a controlled switch to form a closed circuit, which will generate induced current from the induced voltage; Control the on-off ratio of the switch with the Pulse-Width-Modulation signal to generate controllable motor current, which will result in controllable braking torque under the magnet field of the motor. This invention can be applied to prosthesis control.

Claims

1. A damping control method for a lower-limb prosthesis, which comprises the following steps: isolate the driving motor of the main transmission structure from the driving voltage, and operate the driving motor as a generator, wherein the generator generates alternating induced voltage from the joint rotation that resulted from the locomotion of human body's CoM (Center of Mass), the method further comprises: transforming the alternating induced voltage to direct-current voltage with a full-bridge rectification circuit that made of Schottky diodes; The Schottky diodes can also be replaced by the ideal diodes that are made of MOSFETs to decrease the voltage drop; connecting the output terminals of the rectification circuit with a controlled switch such as transistors or MOSFETs to form a closed circuit, and generating induced current from the induced voltage, controlling the on-off ratio of the switch with the Pulse-Width-Modulation (PWM) signal to generate controllable motor current which will result in controllable braking torque under the magnetic field of the motor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a character of the damping control method for the lower-limb prosthesis further comprises the MOSFET is preferred to be connected to the output terminals of the rectification circuit.

3. The method of claim 2, the character of the damping control method for the lower-limb prosthesis further comprises: the rectification circuit is of full-bridge, and is made of several Schottky diodes, wherein the input of the full-bridge rectification circuit is connected to terminals of motor phases, wherein the positive output of the rectification circuit is connected to the drain terminal of the MOSFET, wherein the negative output of the rectification circuit is connected to the source terminal of the MOSFET, wherein a PWM control signal is connected to the gate terminal of the MOSFET.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the diodes are Schottky diodes.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the diodes are ideal diodes comprised of MOSFETs to decrease the voltage drop.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0009] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

[0010] FIG. 1 shows the angular speed and joint torque of the ankle during walking. FIG. 1 (a) refers to the controlled plantarflexion, and FIG. 1 (b) refers to the controlled dorsiflexion.

[0011] FIG. 2 shows the overall implementation process of the invented damping control method from human locomotion to the controllable braking torque.

[0012] FIG. 3 shows the schematic diagram of the rectification circuit which consists of 6 diodes, and the PWM control circuit which mainly consists of one or multiply MOSFETs in parallel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DETAILED IMPLEMENTATION

[0013] The implementation process of the proposed invention will be described in detail in the following session.

[0014] One gait cycle of human locomotion can be divided into different gait phases. According to whether the foot is on the ground or not, the gait cycle can be divided into stance phase when the foot is on the ground, and swing phase when the foot is off the ground. This invention mainly concentrates on the period from heel-strike to the moment when the ankle reaches the maximal dorsiflexion. This period is essential for terrain adaptation, when the ankle is driven to rotate by the external force from human locomotion. The detailed implementation process is shown in FIG. 2, which includes the following steps:

[0015] Isolate the driving motor of the main transmission structure from the driving voltage, and make the motor to function as a generator;

[0016] The generator generates induced voltage from the joint rotation that resulted from the locomotion of human's CoM (Center of Mass);

[0017] Transform the alternating induced voltage to direct-current voltage with a full-bridge rectification circuit that made of Schottky diodes; The Schottky diodes can also be replaced by the ideal diodes that are made of MOSFETs to decrease the voltage drop;

[0018] Connect the output terminals of the rectification circuit with a controlled switch such as transistors or MOSFETs to form a closed circuit, and generates induced current from the induced voltage;

[0019] Control the on-off ratio of the switch with the Pulse-Width-Modulation (PWM) signal to generate controllable motor current, which will result in controllable braking torque under the magnet field of the motor.

[0020] The rectification circuit of step 3) is mainly made of six diodes (D1D6) shown in FIG. 3. The inputs of the rectification circuit is the induced alternating voltage from the three phases of the motor (A, B, C), and the output is connected to the Drain terminal of the MOSFET (Q1), which behaves as a controlled switch that is controlled by the external PWM signal at the Gate terminal.

[0021] In summary, from the moment of heel-strike to the moment when the ankle reaches the maximal dorsiflexion angle, the ankle joint is driven to rotate passively and behaves as a generator. Rotation of the generator generates induced voltage, which is firstly rectified by the rectification circuit, and then transformed to controllable induced current by a controlled switch made of MOSFETs. The induced current will generate braking torque that prevents the ankle from rotating, thus enable a smooth locomotion of the body CoM.

[0022] The embodiments that have been described above are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention. It will be understood to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the structure, operation method and manufacture of the invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention that fall within the scope of the claims.