Leg Prostheses

Joanna Renata Masikowska, B9TB1710

under guidance of Hirata Laboratory

1
 Lower Extremity Amputations

 Annually, more than 1 million amputations

are carried out globally. These tend to be lower
limbs.
 Causes: accidents, war casualties, diseases, etc.

 Type of a prosthesis plays a crucial role

2
Source: Limb Loss Statistics - Amputee Coalition (amputee-coalition.org)
Types of Leg Prostheses
Passive prostheses Robotic prostheses
 Cheaper to manufacture, more accessible Expensive, harder to design
Don’t provide energy: Provide energy!
Different to human’s neuromuscular system. Can imitate a real limb!

Robotic prostheses are needed!

3
Robotic prostheses’ crucial part – control systems

Control systems’ tasks:

 They interconnect hardware
elements and command them.
Recognize intended movement (high-level)
 However, they become very
complex when it comes to
simultaneous control.
Apply appropriate algorithm (mid-level)

 There is deficit in advanced and

applicable control systems.
Use local feedback to command
mechanism within a prothesis (low-level)

4
Challenges in development of control systems

 Lack of open source hardware

Research group must design their own
hardware which takes a lot of
resources

 Different hardware designs across

research groups
- hard to compare control systems
between research groups

5
 Solution: Open-source leg (OSL)
What is OSL?
 Robotic leg prothesis by University of
Michigan

 Consists of prosthesis hardware,

sensors, low-level control
software
 Designed for control systems
development and comparison

Source : Alejandro F. Azocar,, Luke M. Mooney, Levi J. Hargrove, and Elliott J. Rouse (2018). Design and 6
Characterization of an Open-source Robotic Leg Prosthesis .
Hardware of OSL
 Simple: doesn’t require high-  List of materials used, links to
precision machine components suppliers, control system
 Portable: it’s lightweight and doesn’t code, guides and videos on
require and external power supply assembly/disassembly are
 Scalable: for various types of available at the project website
amputations www.opensourceleg.com
 Customizable: hardware elements
can be changed to the researcher's
preference
 Economical: costs $10,000- $28,000

7
 Hardware design and elements
 Elements can be transformed: knee
elasticity, microcontrollers, sensors
 Substituting for different robot
operating systems is possible
 Mechanical power is provided
within each joint by electric
motors
 Meets kinetic, kinematic,
electromechanical
requirements for human
Schematic of the OSL, highlighting the transmission, and electronic motion!

8
9
Control systems in OSL
 Programmed in Python 3

 Single-board computer (e.g. Raspberry Pi)

sends reference commands to the actuators

 Actuators execute lower-level control such

as position control, current control, voltage
control, or impedance control

 Embedded systems enable the Raspberry Pi – tiny, affordable computer

development of new high-level control

architectures

10
Summary
 Only robotic prostheses can
provide additional Energy.
 Control systems are the greatest
challenge in robotic prostheses
development.
 Common hardware such as OSL
will help in further improvement
of control systems
 Using OSL, researchers can
develop better advanced control
systems so that a prosthesis is
more like an actual limb.

OSL can help improve

lives of amputees
11
Thank you for your
attention

12