Robo Legs Mimicking Human Gait Developed by American Researchers

American researchers have created robotic legs that can walk in a biologically accurate manner, mimicking the human gait.

The neural architecture, musculoskeletal architecture and sensory feedback pathways in humans have been simplified and built into the robot, giving it a remarkably human-like walking gait.

Walking As An Exercise-Health Benefits-Practice-Do�s and Don�ts-Video
People walk for many reasons ranging from pleasure to mental relaxation, finding solitude or for exercise.

The biological accuracy of this robot has allowed the researchers to investigate the processes underlying walking in humans and may bolster theories of how babies learn to walk, as well as helping to understand how spinal-cord-injury patients can recover the ability to walk.

A key component of the human walking system is the central pattern generator (CPG).

The CPG is a neural network in the lumbar region of the spinal cord that generates rhythmic muscle signals. The CPG produces, and then controls, these signals by gathering information from different parts of the body that are responding to the environment. This is what allows people to walk without needing to think about it.

Walking for Fitness and Weight Loss
A few extra steps a day are enough to keep you fit.

The simplest form of a CPG is a half-centre, which consists of just two neurons that fire signals alternatively, producing a rhythm. The robot contains an artificial half-centre as well as sensors that deliver information back to the half-centre, including load sensors that sense force in the limb when the leg is pressed against a stepping surface.

"Interestingly, we were able to produce a walking gait, without balance, which mimicked human walking with only a simple half-centre controlling the hips and a set of reflex responses controlling the lower limb," Co-author of the study, Dr Theresa Klein, said.

Alcohol and Driving-Blood Alcohol Level-Indian Law-Walk Test and Breathalyzer
Alcohol and driving do not mix. Drunken driving is the cause of many deaths in the world.

The researchers, from the University of Arizona, hypothesize that babies start off with a simple half-centre, similar to the one developed in this robot, and over time they 'learn' a network for a more complex walking pattern.

This could explain why babies have been seen to exhibit a simple walking pattern when placed on a treadmill even before they have learnt to walk - a simple half-centre is already in place.

Dandy Walker Syndrome
Dandy-Walker syndrome is a brain malformation with symptoms of increased intracranial pressure like vomiting, convulsive seizures, unsteadiness and lack of muscle coordination.

"This underlying network may also form the core of the CPG and may explain how people with spinal cord injuries can regain walking ability if properly stimulated in the months after the injury," Dr Klein added.

The study has been presented in IOP Publishing's Journal of Neural Engineering.

Source-ANI