RehAbilitative Knee Orthosis Driven by Electro-Rheological Fluid Based Actuators

- This work aims to demonstrate the feasibility of using Electro-Rheological Fluid (ERF) actuators in orthotics, creating a new breed of rehabilitation devices. ERFs are fluids that experience dramatic changes in rheological properties, such as viscosity or yield stress, in the presence of an electric field. Using the electrically controlled rheological properties of ERFs, compact actuators with an ability to supply high resistive torques in a controllable and tunable fashion, have been developed. This study involves the design, fabrication and testing of an ERF based knee orthotic device and the innovative ERF actuators it uses. The knee orthotic is achieved through a standard brace design with a polycentric hinge and gear system. Coupled to this are two Flat-Plate ERF actuators, given that name for their characteristic set of parallel flat plates allowing for actuation of the fluid. A full model describing the field dependant torque output of these actuators is presented along with a...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: ICRA
• Authors: Jason Nikitczuk, Brian Weinberg, Constantinos Mavroidis
• Keywords: ERF Actuators, ICRA 2005, Innovative Erf Actuators, Knee Orthotic Device, Robotics