A Velocity-Based Flow Field Control Approach for Reshaping Movement of Stroke-Impaired Individuals with a Lower-Limb Exoskeleton

This paper describes a controller for guiding and assisting leg movement during walking with a lower limb exoskeleton with actuated hip and knee joints. The primary novel aspect of the controller is that it employs a virtual flow field to influence movement during swing, rather than a more typical potential-energy-based field. The controller was tested on a single stroke subject. The stroke subject's leg kinematics demonstrate that the controller is capable of appropriately influencing leg kinematics during overground walking.