Introduction

This patented device simulates leg movement in various conditions to perform thorough tests on lower limb prosthetic devices without the presence of a human.

Technical features

This  walking simulator is capable of reproducing the kinematics and kinetics of the leg during a wide variety of gait-related tasks (level/inclined/stairs) and walking conditions (uneven/wet/muddy terrain), with the purpose of collecting meaningful data in a safe, ethical, repeatable, controllable and quantitative manner. The design of this bench test minimizes the actuation requirements in terms of force, excursion and speed while ensuring optimal performances in terms of simulated gait fidelity, leading to an overall relatively low cost of the hardware. Integrated sensors and dedicated software provide an automatic and in-depth biomechanical analysis of the prosthetic device tested. Moreover, this walking simulator can be optionally integrated with the patented active and/or sensorized prosthesis to provide further control and analysis potentials. The working prototype (TRL 7) is currently in use and running tests.

Related patent: Active Biomimetic Ankle-Foot Prothesis

Possible Applications

• Testing of lower limb prosthetic devices and footwear for both structural and functional evaluations;
• Quantitative evaluation of footwear under controllable conditions.

Advantages

• High kinematic and kinetic fidelity of the walking simulation;
• No need to test with human subjects (safe and ethical);
• Repeatable, controllable and quantitative test procedures;
• Optimized design, for relative low hardware costs;
• Automatic and in-depth biomechanical analysis;
• Possibility to integrate the walking simulator with active and/or sensorized ankle-foot prostheses.