Gaussian Process Trajectory Learning and Synthesis of Individualized Gait Motions

There are unique kinematics during locomotor transitions between level ground and stair ambulation that persist with increasing stair grade

Human ambulation is typically characterized during steady-state isolated tasks (e.g., walking, running, stair ambulation). However, general human locomotion comprises continuous adaptation to the varied terrains encountered during activities of daily life. To fill an important gap in knowledge that may lead to improved therapeutic and device interventions for mobility-impaired individuals, it is vital to identify how the mechanics of individuals change as they transition between different ambulatory tasks, and as they encounter terrains of differing severity. In this work, we study lower-limb joint kinematics during the transitions between level walking and stair ascent and descent over a range of stair inclination angles. Using statistical parametric mapping, we identify where and when the kinematics of transitions are unique from the adjacent steady-state tasks. Results show unique transition kinematics primarily in the swing phase, which are sensitive to stair inclination. We also train Gaussian process regression models for each joint to predict joint angles given the gait phase, stair inclination, and ambulation context (transition type, ascent/descent), demonstrating a mathematical modeling approach that successfully incorporates terrain transitions and severity. The results of this work further our understanding of transitory human biomechanics and motivate the incorporation of transition-specific control models into mobility-assistive technology.

Data-Mined Continuous Hip-knee Coordination Mapping with Motion Lag for Lower-limb Prosthesis Control

Trajectory planning of the knee joint plays an essential role in controlling the lower limb prosthesis. Nowadays, the idea of mapping the trajectory of the healthy limb to the motion trajectory of the prosthetic joint has begun to emerge. However, establishing a simple and intuitive coordination mapping is still challenging. This paper employs the method of experimental data mining to explore such a coordination mapping. The coordination indexes, i.e., the mean absolute relative phase (MARP) and the deviation phase (DP), are obtained from experimental data. Statistical results covering different subjects indicate that the hip motion possesses a stable phase difference with the knee, inspiring us to construct a hip-knee Motion-Lagged Coordination Mapping (MLCM). The MLCM first introduces a time lag to the hip motion to avoid conventional integral or differential calculations. The model in polynomials, which is proved more efficient than Gaussian process regression and neural network learning, is then constructed to represent the mapping from the lagged hip motion to the knee motion. In addition, a strong linear correlation between hip-knee MARP and hip-knee motion lag is discovered for the first time. By using the MLCM, one can generate the knee trajectory for the prosthesis control only via the hip motion of the healthy limb, indicating less sensing and better robustness. Numerical simulations show that the prosthesis can achieve normal gaits at different walking speeds.

Motion Trajectories Prediction of Lower Limb Exoskeleton Based on Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Networks

A typical man–machine coupling system could provide the wearer a coordinated and assisted movement by the lower limb exoskeleton. The process of cooperative movement relies on the accurate perception of the wearer’s human movement information and the accurate planning and control of the joint movement of the lower limb exoskeleton. In this paper, a neural network and a Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) machine learning model method is proposed to predict the actual movement trajectory of the human body’s lower limbs. Then a wearable joint angle measurement device was designed for gait trajectory prediction, which can be used for predictive control through machine learning methods. The experimental results show that the LSTM model can accurately predict the gait trajectory with an average mean square error. This method has practical significance for prediction the trajectory of the lower limb exoskeleton.

Individualized Gait Generation for Rehabilitation Robots Based on Recurrent Neural Networks

Individualized reference gait patterns for lower limb rehabilitation robots can greatly improve the effectiveness of rehabilitation. However, previous methods can only generate customized gait patterns at several fixed discrete walking speeds and generating gaits at continuously varying speeds and stride lengths remains unsolved. This work proposes an individualized gait pattern generation method based on a recurrent neural network (RNN), which is proficient in series modeling. We collected the largest gait data set of this kind, which consists of 4,425 gait patterns from 137 subjects. Using this data set, we trained an RNN to create a function mapping from body parameters and gait parameters to a gait pattern. The experimental results indicate that our model is able to generate gait patterns at continuously varying walking speeds and stride lengths while also reducing the errors in the ankle, knee, and hip measurements by 12.83%, 20.95%, and 28.25%, respectively, compared to previous state-of-the-art method.

Gait Trajectory and Gait Phase Prediction Based on an LSTM Network

Lower body segment trajectory and gait phase prediction is crucial for the control of assistance-as-needed robotic devices, such as exoskeletons. In order for a powered exoskeleton with phase-based control to determine and provide proper assistance to the wearer during gait, we propose an approach to predict segment trajectories up to 200 ms ahead (angular velocity of the thigh, shank and foot segments) and five gait phases (loading response, mid-stance, terminal stance, preswing and swing), based on collected data from inertial measurement units placed on the thighs, shanks, and feet. The approach we propose is a long-short term memory (LSTM)-based network, a modified version of recurrent neural networks, which can learn order dependence in sequence prediction problems. The algorithm proposed has a weighted discount loss function that places more weight in predicting the next three to five time frames but also contributes to an overall prediction performance for up to 10 time frames. The LSTM model was designed to learn lower limb segment trajectories using training samples and was tested for generalization across participants. All predicted trajectories were strongly correlated with the measured trajectories, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.98. The proposed LSTM approach can also accurately predict the five gait phases, particularly swing phase with 95% accuracy in inter-subject implementation. The ability of the LSTM network to predict future gait trajectories and gait phases can be applied in designing exoskeleton controllers that can better compensate for system delays to smooth the transition between gait phases.