Design of a Robotic Knee Assistive Device (ROKAD) for Slip-Induced Fall Prevention during Walking

Slip is one of the major causes for falls during human walking. Providing external knee assistive torque can potentially help people perform successful slip recovery and avoid serious injuries. In this paper, we present a design and characterization of a wearable robotic knee assistive device for slip-induced fall prevention. The device consists of a set of compliant components with the impedance and torque feedback control. The bench performance evaluations show that the device is capable of tracking a knee angle profile of walking and slip gait and can therefore be worn during regular walking without hindering subject's gait. The human subject tests also show that the device can constantly exert assistive torques of up to 35 Nm during sit-to-stand task.