CN117159339A - Fall-preventing walking auxiliary system and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an anti-falling walking auxiliary system and a control method thereof, which are used for providing safe and stable walking auxiliary or rehabilitation training functions for old people or users with poor lower limb muscle strength. The fall-prevention walking assistance system may include: the walking aid device comprises a frame assembly and a moving assembly connected to the bottom of the frame assembly and used for driving the walking aid device to move; a sensor module comprising a force sensing unit configured on the frame assembly for acquiring mechanical parameters related to a user manipulating the walking aid, and a gait sensing unit for acquiring characteristic gait information of a user attached to the walking aid; a controller is communicatively coupled to the sensor module and configured to switch the gait aid device between an activated state and a braked state in response to a change in the mechanical parameter and/or the characteristic gait information.

Description

Fall-preventing walking auxiliary system and control method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of walking aid equipment, in particular to an anti-falling walking aid system and a control method thereof.

Background

In recent years, the aging of the young in developed countries has been increasing, and the necessity for nursing and/or life assistance for the elderly has been increasing. In particular, the aged tends to have a reduced physical function with age, and thus it is difficult to maintain the quality of life in the home. In order to prevent muscle loss and maintain physical function in the elderly, training is often required through a period of exercise to maintain muscle mass. However, the aged people are difficult to go out due to the decline of body functions, and the aged people often stay at home without going out, so that the purpose of enhancing body functions cannot be achieved, and the aged people can fall into vicious circle that a certain exercise amount is difficult to maintain and the muscle mass is further reduced. In recent years, under such circumstances, a walking assist device or a walking assist robot for guiding a user such as an elderly person to a destination has been proposed.

The walking aid is intended to aid and assist persons with difficulty walking in indoor and outdoor environments, such as parkinson's, hemiplegic, poliomyelitis, stroke patients, etc. The walking aid typically includes a support type walking aid and a wearable walking aid. The supporting type walking aid may generally include a frame body, a handle mounted on the frame body, and a plurality of wheels provided in a lower portion of the frame body and capable of controlling movement of the frame body. The support type walking assistance device can judge the walking intention of the user to assist the user in walking. Wearable walking aids are typically configured in the form of an exoskeleton and are operably attached to a patient's lower limb. Such wearable walking aids can often be used to help elderly, lower limb power patients to perform rehabilitation and muscle power enhancing exercises.

CN113101151a discloses a walking aid for rehabilitation therapy, which comprises a base, wherein a chair is fixedly connected to the top of the base, universal wheels are fixedly connected to the bottom of the base, a braking part and an arm supporting part of the walking aid are arranged on the base, and a foot supporting unit is arranged on the base.

Although the walking aid device can be used for assisting the elderly or patients with poor muscle strength of lower limbs to walk, the autonomous movement of the walking aid device (such as a supporting walking aid robot) is dominant in the walking process of the user in many cases, so that the user sometimes has to make gait change for the walking aid device, and further the user can feel quite uncomfortable and even cause additional burden or pressure to the body of the user. Even if the movement speed of the walking aid can be adjusted to the patient's walking, it is still unavoidable that the patient falls unexpectedly, especially for those patients whose trunk is unbalanced on both sides, which may occur with a change in their posture or the movement state of the walking aid, thereby possibly negatively affecting the walking aid or lower limb rehabilitation of the patient.

Furthermore, there are differences in one aspect due to understanding to those skilled in the art; on the other hand, since the applicant has studied a lot of documents and patents while making the present invention, the text is not limited to details and contents of all but it is by no means the present invention does not have these prior art features, but the present invention has all the prior art features, and the applicant remains in the background art to which the right of the related prior art is added.

Disclosure of Invention

Aiming at the defects of the prior art, the invention provides an anti-falling walking auxiliary system and a control method thereof, which aim to solve at least one or more technical problems in the prior art.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a fall-preventing walking assistance system comprising:

the walking aid device comprises a frame assembly and a moving assembly connected to the bottom of the frame assembly and used for driving the walking aid device to move;

a sensor module comprising a force sensing unit configured on the frame assembly for acquiring mechanical parameters related to a user manipulating the walking aid, and a gait sensing unit for acquiring characteristic gait information of a user attached to the walking aid;

a controller is communicatively coupled to the sensor module and configured to switch the gait aid device between an activated state and a braked state in response to a change in the mechanical parameter and/or the characteristic gait information.

In the invention, the walking auxiliary device can switch the running state of the walking auxiliary device between the starting state and the braking state in response to the change of the mechanical parameters and/or the characteristic gait information, so that the walking auxiliary device can guide the user to walk or perform rehabilitation training on the basis of guaranteeing the personal safety of the user to the greatest extent, and particularly, the risk of unexpected falling of the user can be reduced in some complex traveling environments or for some users with special physical states (such as hemiplegia). Taking hemiplegia as an example, hemiplegia (hemiplegia) refers to the movement disorder of the upper and lower limbs, facial muscles and sublingual muscles on the same side, and is a common symptom of acute cerebrovascular diseases (cerebral apoplexy, etc.). Though the hemiplegia user can still move, the user can walk up and down to and from the upper limb to bend and the lower limb to straighten, and the paralyzed lower limb walks one step for half a circle, namely, the hip is lifted to drive the leg to swing forward, and the user is represented by the annular movement of the leg external rotation circle, and the special walking posture is called hemiplegia gait or circle-drawing-like gait. Thus, for some physically specific users, the walking process is a non-smooth continuous movement process, and abrupt nodes exist for suddenly accelerating or stopping the movement process. The prior art CN108836765a relates to realizing travel control of a walking aid by detecting mechanical sensor information, the technical scheme obtains mechanical data generated by a user manipulating the walking aid and analyzes a user's travel intention based on the user's force data, and then controls a chassis moving device to move based on the user's travel intention and/or a set travel strategy stored in advance in a travel controller according to a travel control mode of the walking aid, wherein a detection analysis result of the mechanical data directly corresponds to a movement control process of the walking aid. For users with walking gait tending to be normal, the control process of the hands is less influenced by the gait linkage, and the subjective control intention of the hands of the users can be better reflected. However, for some special physical users, a certain difficulty exists in realizing accurate control of hands during walking, if the gait is suddenly accelerated or stopped during the process of re-overlaying movement, the force data will also generate significant abrupt changes at the moment, so that irregular movement or shake of the walking aid is caused, and thus the actual control intention of the user cannot be obviously reflected.

In order to prevent the problem that the actual intention of the user cannot be accurately reflected due to the hand control, the prior art attempts to realize stable continuous movement of the walking aid by controlling the distance between the walking aid and the unsynchronized line gesture of the user. For example, the prior art CN107224392a relates to sensing the feet of a user by a non-contact sensing means and outputting gait feature information of the user, and by controlling and adjusting the man-machine position, the electric walker and the user have convenient positions which conform to the standing state and gait of the user, the walker performs static and dynamic supporting functions relative to the user, and the user is supported by the walker under the dynamic and static conditions of walking and standing interaction in the gait training process. For users with walking gait tending to be normal, good stable and continuous movement of the walking aid can be realized by setting a fixed control distance. For some posture-specific users, it is desirable to provide enough stride space to meet the user's greatest stride demands on the one hand, and to keep the safe distance as short as possible to allow the user sufficient time to get support in the event of an unexpected fall on the other hand. However, this prior art meets the user's stride requirement by only increasing the man-machine distance, ignoring the short distance that can be taken in time to support that is required in the event of an accidental fall of the user.

Preferably, the controller is capable of determining the controlled speed of the walking assistance device matching the characteristic gait information based on the characteristic gait information acquired by the gait sensing unit. In the application, in order to provide a proper man-machine distance between the user and the walking auxiliary device and ensure the walking stability of the user, the controller can adjust the moving speed of the walking auxiliary device according to the characteristic gait information (such as the pace speed, the step frequency or the stride, and the like) of the user, so as to avoid the problem that the user is not safe or even falls accidentally due to the overlarge distance between the user and the walking auxiliary device or the problem that the user is difficult to walk due to the overlarge distance between the user and the walking auxiliary device. Preferably, the controlled speed of the walking assist device is consistent with the characteristic gait information trend. Preferably, when the characteristic gait information acquired by the gait sensing unit shows that the user changes from the stationary state to the maximum movement amplitude, the controlled speed of the walking assist device can be gradually increased based on the control of the controller and reach the maximum value at the same time as the user reaches the maximum movement amplitude. Preferably, when the characteristic gait information acquired by the gait sensing unit shows that the user changes from the maximum movement amplitude to the resting state, the controlled speed of the walking assist device can be gradually reduced based on the control of the controller and reach the minimum value at the same time as the user reaches the resting state, i.e., the final controlled speed is reduced to zero. Compared with the prior art that only specific movement direction control can be realized through hand mechanics information or the technical effect of realizing the stride requirement through setting fixed man-machine distance, the application can adjust the controlled speed of the walking auxiliary device based on the matched characteristic gait information through the controller, so that the gait change trend of the user is consistent with the control process of the walking auxiliary device, and the stability and the safety of the user in the continuous walking process are ensured. Taking a hemiplegic user as an example, in the process of lifting the hip of the user and driving the legs to swing forwards, the user changes from a resting state to a walking state, and at the moment, the legs are outwards swirled to reach a maximum distance (maximum diameter position), and the walking auxiliary device needs to move to the minimum distance position where the user can finish walking at an adaptive speed. When the user turns out to spin his legs, the user will be in a short rest state, and the walking aid will then stop and remain stationary to provide a stable and timely-accessible safe support distance for the user. At the next moment, the leg previously stroked will be interchanged with the motion state of the stationary leg on the other side, thereby entering a cyclic-associated control state of the controlled speed of the walking assist device with a characteristic gait information change.

Preferably, the fall-preventing walking assistance system further comprises a position sensing unit connected to the frame assembly, and the controller is capable of determining a walking environment in a direction in which the user intends to travel based on the position information of the user at different time nodes acquired by the position sensing unit, and controlling the movement state of the walking assistance device according to the walking environment. According to the invention, based on the position change of the user in the walking environment, the controller can determine the state (such as barrier information and road information) of the walking environment around the user, so that the moving state of the walking auxiliary device can be planned in advance, the accidental falling risk of the user can be further reduced, the experience of man-machine interaction is enhanced, and a comfortable and reliable walking auxiliary plan is provided for the user.

Preferably, the controller is capable of planning the power configuration of the walking assistance device based on the walking environment in the direction in which the user intends to travel. According to the invention, based on the change of the walking environment of the user, the controller can reasonably configure the electric energy call of the walking auxiliary device, so that the standby operation time of the walking auxiliary device can be prolonged, and the walking auxiliary device can input more electric energy for detection and analysis of complex road conditions, thereby ensuring that the walking auxiliary device can provide accurate and stable rehabilitation training or walking auxiliary strategies for the user.

Preferably, the fall-preventing walking assistance system provided by the present invention further comprises an obstacle sensing unit disposed on the frame assembly, the obstacle sensing unit for sensing obstacle information in a direction in which the user intends to travel, to allow the controller to be able to adjust a movement state of the walking assistance device based on the obstacle information.

Preferably, the controller is capable of switching the walking assist device between the activated state and the braked state based on a change in the movement speed of the walking assist device.

Preferably, the frame assembly of the walking assist device includes an upper bracket for configuring the force sensing unit and for supporting the upper limb of the user, a lower bracket for connecting the movement assembly, and an adjustable middle bracket connected between the upper and lower brackets.

Preferably, another aspect of the present invention also relates to a control method of the fall-preventing walking assistance system, comprising:

acquiring mechanical parameters related to the user manipulating the walking assistance device through the force sensing unit;

acquiring, by the gait sensing unit, characteristic gait information of a user attached to the walking assistance device;

the walking assist device is switched between an activated state and a braked state in response to changes in the mechanical parameter and/or the characteristic gait information.

Preferably, the control method of the fall-preventing walking assistance system according to the present invention may further include:

determining a walking environment in the traveling direction of the user intention based on the position information of the user at different time nodes;

the movement state of the walking assistance device is controlled according to the walking environment.

Preferably, the control method of the fall-preventing walking assistance system according to the present invention may further include:

the power configuration of the walking assistance device is planned based on the walking environment in the direction in which the user intends to travel.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a walking assist device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a second schematic view of a walking assist device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention when a user is attached to the walking aid.

List of reference numerals

10: a walking assist device; 20: a sensor module; 30: a controller; 101: an upper bracket; 102: a middle bracket; 103: a lower bracket; 104: an active steering structure; 105: a driven steering structure; 106: an auxiliary support structure; 1011: an upper limb support plate; 1012: a connecting plate; 1021: a middle support frame; 1022: a pin shaft; 1031: a lower support frame; 201: a force sensing unit; 202: a gait sensing unit; 203: an obstacle sensing unit; 204: and a position sensing unit.

Detailed Description

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the advantages and features of the present invention can be more easily understood by those skilled in the art, thereby making clear and defining the scope of the present invention. While exemplary embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present invention may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

Example 1

The present invention provides a fall prevention walking assistance system that may include a walking assistance device 10, a sensor module 20, and a controller 30. In particular, the walking assistance device 10 (also referred to as a supported walking assistance robot) may include three parts, a frame assembly, a movement assembly, and a detection assembly.

According to a preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the frame assembly may include a middle bracket 102 and an upper bracket 101 and a lower bracket 103 respectively connected above and below the middle bracket 102. In particular, referring to fig. 3, the upper bracket 101 may include a pair of upper limb support plates 1011, which may be used to support the arms of a user. For example, the user may place his or her forearm on the surface of the upper support plate 1011, thereby relieving the user's leg pressure to some extent.

According to a preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the upper bracket 101 may further include a connection plate 1012 connecting the left and right upper limb support plates 1011 and for arranging the controller 30. In particular, the controller 30 may be configured as an operable touch display screen. Alternatively, the controller 30 may have separate operating parts (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, and/or an audio input device, etc.) and a display part. The housing of the controller 30 may be used to house various components such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), various memory units, and a power supply. In other alternative embodiments, the controller 30 may also be a microprocessor of other external devices in communication with the walking assist device 10 and the sensor module 20.

According to a preferred embodiment, the controller 30 is configured to visually output items of information to a user in response to input from the user or the detection component. For example, the controller 30 may output one or more of a local scene map of a walking environment in which the user is located, a set walking route among the current walking environment, and a spatial layout of various scene objects (e.g., obstacles) in the current walking environment through its configured display screen, thereby allowing the user to intuitively acquire various pieces of information of the current walking environment on the way of walking or about to walk, and timely adjust his walking intention and/or a manipulation process for the walking aid 10 based on the change of the information over time.

According to a preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the middle bracket 102 may include a pair of telescopic middle support brackets 1021 connected between the upper and lower brackets 101 and 103 and a telescopic pin 1022 located at the front end of the walking assist device 10. Specifically, a pair of telescopic middle support frames 1021 are respectively connected to the bottoms of the upper limb support plates 1011 on the side toward the rear end of the walking assist device 10. The pin 1022 is attached to the bottom of the upper limb support plate 1011 on the side facing the front end of the walking assistance device 10, i.e., mounted to the bottom of the connection plate 1012. By way of non-limiting example, the telescoping mid-support 1021 may be comprised of two or more telescoping joint nests. By means of the telescopic middle support frame 1021 and the pin 1022, a user can adjust the overall height of the support type walking auxiliary robot according to the self requirements in the walking or standing process, so that a stable support effect is provided for the user.

According to a preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the lower support 103 may comprise a pair of lower support frames 1031 arranged below the middle support frame 1021 and/or the pins 1022 for connecting the moving assembly. The movement assembly may include a driving steering structure 104 at the front end of the walking assist device 10 and a driven steering structure 105 at the rear end of the walking assist device 10. Specifically, the front ends of a pair of lower support frames 1031 extend and are connected to both sides of the active steering structure 104, respectively. The rear ends of a pair of lower support brackets 1031 extend respectively and are connected to at least one driven steering structure 105.

According to a preferred embodiment, the active steering structure 104 may include one or more sets of steering wheels and a structural housing configured to accommodate the one or more sets of steering wheels. The plurality of drive wheels may be substantially evenly distributed within the structural shell at a set pitch. Alternatively, as shown in fig. 1, the active steering structure 104 or steering wheel may include three active wheels (e.g., mecanum wheels).

According to a preferred embodiment, each driving wheel is connected to a respective driving motor (not shown). Each drive motor may be connected to a motor controller disposed in the middle of the structural enclosure. Specifically, the driving motor may be a servo motor whose rotation direction is adjustable. Further, the motor controller may be communicatively coupled to the controller 30, so that the motor controller may independently control a rotational direction of each driving motor, a rotational speed thereof, and the like in response to a driving instruction of the controller 30. Controlling each drive motor independently by a motor controller may control the active steering structure 104 to move in any direction at an adjustable speed, which in turn allows the walking assist device 10 to assist and guide the user's travel in its intended direction.

It should be understood that the three-wheeled walking assist device 10 shown in fig. 1 is intended as a non-limiting illustration only and should not be construed as limiting the specific configuration of the walking assist device 10. In other alternative embodiments, well known four wheel drive arrangements may be employed as desired by those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the moving components of the walking assistance device 10 (or the supported walking assistance robot) may include more than one active steering structure 104, whether in a three-wheel drive or four-wheel drive configuration. For example, any one or more of the movement steering structures disposed at the bottom of the walking assistance device 10 (or the supporting walking assistance robot) may be provided as a driving wheel (e.g., a Mecanum wheel), which may be set as desired by those skilled in the art.

According to a preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the upper bracket 101 may further comprise at least one auxiliary support structure 106 connected to the two upper limb support plates 1011. The auxiliary support structure 106 may be configured as an arc to support the waist or buttocks of the user. Alternatively, the auxiliary support structure 106 may be a cinch strap or a supportable structure (e.g., a seat cushion) capable of supporting a user. In particular, at least one auxiliary support structure 106 may be connected to the bottom of one side of the two upper limb support plates 1011 facing the rear end of the walking assistance device 10, so that the auxiliary support structure 106 may be used to support the torso of a user. For example, for parkinsonism or myasthenia users, the auxiliary support structure 106 may support the back or hip legs of the user as soon as he or she is about to fall during instability, to prevent sudden falls during walking.

According to a preferred embodiment, the detection assembly of the present invention may include a sensor module 20 communicatively coupled to a controller 30. The sensor module 20 may include one or more force sensing units 201 disposed on the upper bracket 101. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, both sides of the controller 30 or a pair of upper limb support plates 1011 may each be provided with an operable handle assembly toward the front end of the walking assist device 10. The handle assembly houses one or more force sensing units 201. For example, the force sensing unit 201 is directly or indirectly connected to a steerable lever, such as a joystick.

By way of non-limiting example, the force sensing unit 201 may be one or more of a pressure sensitive sensor, a torque sensor, or a multi-axis force sensor. In the present invention, the force sensing unit 201 is capable of sensing a pressure value and/or a torque value generated in one or more directions by a user when manipulating a handle bar connected to the force sensing unit 201, so that the controller 30 is capable of analyzing a user's walking intention based on mechanical parameters (e.g., a pressure value and/or a torque value) related to the user's operation acquired by the one or more force sensing units 201, and determining a movement pattern of the walking aid 10 according to the user's walking intention, thereby controlling movement of the moving assembly (i.e., the active steering structure 104) through a walking control strategy in the corresponding movement pattern to guide the user's walking.

In other alternative embodiments, a non-contact sensing means may also be utilized to detect the gait of the user in order to infer the user's intent to walk. In particular, the non-contact sensing means may include, but are not limited to, image, laser, infrared or ultrasonic, etc. Numerous solutions for detecting the travel intention of a user by non-contact means are disclosed in the prior art, and are not described here for the sake of brevity. It will be appreciated that the use of the force sensing unit 201 to obtain mechanical parameters related to user operation to detect the user's travel intent is described as a non-limiting example and should not be considered as a specific limitation of the present invention, and that other well known means such as laser detection may be selected as desired by those skilled in the art.

According to a preferred embodiment, the sensor module 20 according to the present invention may further comprise a gait sensing unit 202 in addition to the force sensing unit 201. The gait sensing unit 202 may acquire gait information of both legs during the user's travel using a non-contact sensing means, so that the controller 30 can output characteristic gait information of the user in response to the gait information acquired by the gait sensing unit 202. For example, the characteristic gait information includes, but is not limited to, stride frequency, stride, pace, and stride position, etc.

By way of non-limiting example, gait sensing unit 202 may be a laser scanner that is set facing the user. For example, as shown in fig. 1, a laser scanner may be disposed on the upright of the pin 1022, so that the laser scanner may scan to obtain scan information including gait information of the user's legs. In particular, the laser scanner may acquire distance information that varies in time with the user's gait (e.g., the user is advancing or retreating). For example, a laser scanner scans a user to obtain first distance information at a first time node and second distance information at a second time node. In particular, the first distance information and the second distance information may represent a distance between the laser scanner and the user. As an example, the first distance information and the second distance information may represent distances between a midpoint of the user's leg link and the laser scanner at different times. Further, the controller 30 may calculate the pace of the user in response to the first distance information and the second distance information acquired by the laser scanner. For example, based on the distance difference between the first distance information and the second distance information and the difference of the corresponding time nodes, the controller 30 may calculate the pace of the obtaining user.

In addition to the laser scanning detection approach described above, the gait sensing unit may also include an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) that is worn in contact with the user. Preferably, the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) may be worn on the user's leg, such as at any or all of the user's thigh, calf or ankle. Thus, the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) may be used to measure acceleration and angular velocity values associated with the movement of the legs of the user during travel, such that the controller 30 is able to determine characteristic gait information of the user in response to the acceleration and angular velocity values acquired by the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) or in combination with gait information acquired by the non-contact sensing unit. Any one or a combination of the above may be used as desired by those skilled in the art.

For example, although the walking assist device 10 (or the support type walking assist robot) of the present invention can be used to assist the walking of the elderly or patients with poor lower limb muscle strength, the user sometimes has to make gait changes due to the fact that the autonomous movement of the walking assist device 10 takes a dominant role during the walking process of the user, which may cause the user to feel very uncomfortable and even cause additional burden or stress to his body. Such as the user's own pace, stride, and the speed of guidance provided by the walking assist device 10. In particular, when the user's own pace or stride is less than the traction speed of the walking assist device 10, a large gap position may remain between the user and the walking assist device 10, which may have to accelerate the user's walk to reduce the spacing between the user and the forward walking assist device 10, whereas for some patients with weak lower limbs or impaired voluntary ability, such gap may gradually increase with increasing travel, causing the user's body to lean forward and out of balance, and eventually may fall off the walking assist device 10, which may have a more significant impact, especially on those users who themselves have a forward body tilt. Conversely, if the user's own pace or stride is greater than the traction speed of the walking assist device 10, the distance between the user and the walking assist device 10 will gradually decrease with increasing travel, so the user has to decrease his own pace or stride for this purpose, and the user may be reluctant to touch the walking assist device 10, which may not only affect the user's walking but also cause injury, particularly those with a backward body inclination. For example, the user may avoid rearward to reduce the amount of contact with the walking assist device 10, but tip rearward due to the loss of body balance.

In view of this, in the present invention, after the controller 30 determines the characteristic gait information of the user's pace, stride, etc., based on one or more pieces of gait information related to the user's walking acquired by the gait sensing unit 202, the controlled speed of the walking assist device 10 conforming to the user's characteristic gait information may be calculated based on the characteristic gait information. Specifically, the controller 30 may calculate the controlled speed of the walking assistance device 10 to conform to the movement of the user based on the walking speed of the user. Further, the controlled speed is typically related to the rotational speed of the drive wheels in the active steering structure 104 described above. Accordingly, the controller 30 can calculate the rotational speed of the traction wheel based on the controlled speed, and thereby actively adjust the moving speed of the walking assistance device 10. On the other hand, in response to the mechanical parameters (e.g., the magnitude and direction of the pressure value and/or the torque value) obtained by the force sensing unit 201, the controller 30 may determine the traveling direction intention of the user, and may calculate and adjust the rotation (e.g., the rotational direction and rotational speed) of the driving wheel in the active steering structure 104. In particular, the controlled speed of the walking assistance device 10 calculated by the controller 30 is generally approximately positively correlated with the user's walking speed.

During rehabilitation and walking by the user with the aid of the walking aid 10, an unexpected fall typically results from a change in the body posture of the user, such as a user wanting to change from a standing posture to a sitting posture. Or a change in the gait of the user, such as the user speeding up his or her walking in order to catch up with the forward walking assist device 10. As described above, the controller 30 may determine the controlled speed of the walking assist device 10 based on the characteristic gait information of the user (e.g., stride frequency, stride, pace speed, and pace position, etc.), but even if the walking assist device 10 is driven to move in a manner that is adapted to the user's walking speed, the risk that the user may accidentally fall cannot be completely avoided. For example, in a case where a user (e.g., a hemiplegic patient) having a damaged lower limb on one side has a difference in the traveling speeds of the left and right lower limbs during walking, when the walking assistance device 10 is controlled to move based on the average traveling speeds of the left and right lower limbs of the user, there is a high possibility that the damaged side is separated from the walking assistance device 10 because the damaged side gradually does not follow the movement of the other side, and thus the user side may be separated from the walking assistance device 10. Or even if the traveling speeds on the left and right sides of the user are substantially even, unbalance in the support on both sides of the user (e.g., extreme unbalance in the grasping force on both sides) may be caused due to the change of the body posture of the user (e.g., lateral bending of the upper body of the user), and then the trunk on one side of the user may be partially or entirely separated from the walking assist device 10 at the next moment (e.g., where one side arm is separated from the manipulating handle). Or even if the traveling speeds of the left and right sides of the user are substantially averaged, the walking assist device 10 moves faster than the user expects, and thus the user may lighten the grip of the manipulating handle, so that the user may topple over due to inertia caused by abrupt shifting or steering at the next moment.

In view of this, in the present invention, the controller 30 is capable of switching the walking assist device 10 between the activated state and the braked state in response to an abnormal change in the characteristic gait information of the user. Alternatively, the controller 30 can switch the walking assistance device 10 between the activated state and the braked state in response to an abnormal change in the mechanical parameter acquired by the force sensing unit 201 when the user operates the manipulation handle.

Specifically, the abnormal change of the characteristic gait information of the user may include any one or more of a difference between average walking speeds corresponding to lower limbs of the user being beyond a set threshold range, a difference between average strides corresponding to lower limbs of the user being beyond a set threshold range, and an average walking speed or an average walking speed change rate of the user at a plurality of consecutive adjacent time nodes being beyond a set threshold range. In particular, the threshold range corresponding to each characteristic gait information can be preset by a therapist of the user according to the personal illness state of the user and is input and adjusted in advance through an operation interface of the system. It will be appreciated that in practice the abnormal variations of the user's characteristic gait information are in no way limited thereto, and that the above disclosure is intended only to specifically describe the invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

Further, if an abnormal change in the characteristic gait information of the user may indicate an undesired potentially risky state of the user's walking process, the controller 30 may switch the walking assist device 10 to the braking state. In the braked state, the active steering structure 104 is not movable. Or in a braking state, the active steering structure 104 is applied with a resistance to have a smaller or lower rotational speed than in an activated state. Conversely, if the characteristic gait information of the user is normal, the controller 30 switches and maintains the walking assistance device 10 in an operational start state so that the user is guided to walk by the walking assistance device 10 while ensuring the safety of the user. Specifically, the active steering structure 104 may include a brake (not shown) disposed in the structural housing to prevent or mitigate rotation of the drive wheel and a brake controller (e.g., a motor controller) for controlling the state of operation of the brake. By way of non-limiting example, the brake may be a hydraulic brake, a cable-disc brake, a clip-on brake, or other brake known in the art. The brake controller is controlled by the controller 30, so that the engagement state of the brake and the driving wheel is controlled to drive or press the driving wheel to rotate.

On the other hand, the abnormal change of the mechanical parameter acquired by the force sensing unit 201 may include any one or more of the difference between the mechanical parameters (such as the torque value and/or the pressure value) acquired by the force sensing units 201 on both sides corresponding to the left and right arms of the patient exceeding the set threshold range and the mechanical parameter acquired by the force sensing unit 201 on one or both sides exceeding the set threshold range (such as being greater than the upper threshold or being less than the lower threshold). In particular, the threshold range corresponding to each mechanical parameter can be preset by a therapist of the user according to the personal illness state of the user and is input and adjusted in advance through an operation interface of the system. It should be understood that, in practice, the abnormal change of the mechanical parameter related to the user walking gripping operation obtained by the force sensing unit 201 during the user walking process is not limited to this, and the description of the abnormal change of the mechanical parameter obtained by the force sensing unit 201 is merely used for specifically describing the present invention, and is not used for limiting the disclosure scope of the present invention.

Similarly or in the same manner, if an abnormal change occurs in the mechanical parameter obtained by the force sensing unit 201, indicating an undesired risk potential state during walking of the user, the controller 30 may switch the walking assist device 10 to the braking state. In the braking state, the active steering structure 104 is not movable or has a smaller or lower rotational speed than in the activated state. For example, the controller 30 positions the brake in at least one engagement position within the engagement region via a brake controller (e.g., a motor controller) such that the drive wheel of the active steering structure 104 cannot rotate or is slowed to rotate. Conversely, if the mechanical parameter acquired by the force sensing unit 201 is normal, the controller 30 switches and maintains the walking assistance device 10 in an operational start state. For example, the controller 30 positions the brake in at least one disengaged position via a brake controller (e.g., a motor controller) such that the drive wheel of the active steering structure 104 is rotatable.

It will be appreciated that the switching of the walking assistance device 10 between the activated state and the braked state may also be controlled based on a change in distance between the user and the walking assistance device 10. For example, in response to a change in distance between a user and a distance sensor (not shown) disposed at a designated location of the walking assist device 10, the controller 30 can determine whether the user is standing still or is about to change from standing to sitting, so that the controller 30 can change the operating state of the active steering structure 104 via the brake controller. In particular, the distance sensor may be an Infrared (IR), laser or ultrasonic based distance measuring device.

In other alternative embodiments, the switching of the walking assistance device 10 between the activated state and the braked state may also be determined based on the speed of movement of the walking assistance device 10, such as the rotational speed of the traction wheel of the active steering structure 104 exceeding a set threshold. Preferably, upon acquiring any one or more of the above data (user gait data, mechanical parameters, and/or distance data), the controller 30 may analyze the user's walking pattern using a machine learning algorithm to identify a first walking pattern that is consistent with the desired walking posture and a second walking pattern that is not consistent with the desired walking posture.

According to a preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, the sensor module 20 of the present invention may further include an obstacle sensing unit 203 for recognizing obstacle information in the environment, which is provided at the front side of the walking assistance device 10, in addition to the above-described sensing unit. Specifically, the obstacle sensing unit 203 may employ non-contact sensing as described above or other means well known in the art to detect an obstacle condition of the forward walking area of the walking assistance device 10, so that the controller 30 can determine whether or not an obstacle to be avoided exists in the forward walking area in response to the sensed data of the obstacle sensing unit 203. For example, the obstacle sensing unit 203 may employ a laser sensor, and when the controller 30 determines that an obstacle exists in the forward walking area (e.g., the distance information is smaller than the set distance) according to the distance information acquired by the laser sensor, the controller 30 sends a driving instruction to the motor controller in the active steering structure 104 to stop the movement of the capstan or steer to avoid the forward obstacle by controlling the operation of the driving motor.

By way of non-limiting example, the walking assistance device 10 can have a variety of walking control strategies or movement patterns built into the controller 30. The user may select the corresponding movement pattern by himself via the controller 30 or by a trainer or attending physician of the user via a third party terminal in communication with the walking assist device 10. For example, the walking assist device 10 can include an autonomous walking mode and an assisted walking mode. Specifically, for users with weak muscle strength of lower limbs or autonomous ability, guidance is generally required to perform rehabilitation training, and walking guidance or rehabilitation training can be performed through an autonomous walking mode. When the walking assist device 10 enters the autonomous walking mode, the controller 30 may call a preset walking control strategy to cause the walking assist device 10 to perform movement control according to a walking path and a movement speed that are preset according to the walking control strategy, so as to assist and guide the user to perform rehabilitation training or walking according to the set walking path. Further, when the walking assistance device 10 enters the autonomous walking mode, if the obstacle sensing means 203 detects that an obstacle exists in the forward walking area, the controller 30 drives the active steering structure 104 to steer so as to avoid the forward obstacle and move in accordance with a preset walking path and a preset moving speed, and otherwise, the controller 30 drives the walking assistance device 10 to move in accordance with a preset walking control strategy.

On the other hand, for the user with stronger lower limb muscle strength or autonomous capability, the user can travel according to wish and can carry out walking guidance or rehabilitation training through an auxiliary walking mode. When the walking assist device 10 enters the assist walking mode, the walking assist device 10 can assist the user's rehabilitation training or walking in compliance with the user's walking intention, and in the process, the walking assist device 10 can timely adjust the assist strategy by recognizing the obstacle situation in the surrounding walking environment. For example, if no obstacle is detected in the forward walking area by the obstacle sensing unit 203, the controller 30 drives the active steering structure 104 to rotate based on the user's walking intention to guide the walking assist device 10 to move in the user's intention direction, otherwise the controller 30 drives the active steering structure 104 to steer to avoid the obstacle to move on the basis of conforming to the user's walking intention.

It should be appreciated that the specific selection of the assisted walking mode and the autonomous walking mode is not limited to the above scenario. In addition, the walking assist device 10 can include one or more movement patterns defined in other parameters in addition to the autonomous walking mode and the assisted walking mode described above. For example, when defined by the walking environment of the walking assist device 10, the walking assist device 10 may have an ascending movement mode, a descending movement mode, or the like. When defined by the operation load of the walking assistance device 10, the walking assistance device 10 may have a normal mode (or a high power consumption mode), a power saving mode (or a low power consumption mode), or the like.

According to a preferred embodiment, in addition to the sensing units described above, the sensor module 20 of the present invention may also include a position sensing unit 204 provided on the user and/or the walking assistance device 10, as shown in fig. 2. The position sensing unit 204 is electrically and/or signally connected to the controller 30. By way of illustration of a non-limiting embodiment, the location sensing unit 204 may obtain location data of the user from one or more of GPS, base station, wi-Fi, bluetooth, and other positioning means known in the art.

According to a preferred embodiment, the location information of the user at different time nodes may be acquired by means of the location sensing unit 204. Further, the controller 30 can determine the walking environment in the direction in which the user intends to travel based on the position information of the user at different time nodes, and can control the moving state of the walking assistance device 10 according to the walking environment in the direction in which the user intends to travel.

Specifically, the controller 30 determines a walking environment in the direction in which the user intends to travel according to the position information of the user at different time nodes. For example, the controller 30 acquires an environment map in the direction in which the user intends to travel from an external device or a cloud database through a server network. Based on the environment map, the controller 30 can determine the walking environment in the direction in which the user intends to travel. For example, the controller 30 can determine obstacle information present in the direction in which the user intends to travel and road state information (such as a flat road surface, an uphill road surface, or a downhill road surface) from the environment map.

As an example, when there is an obstacle to be avoided in the direction in which the user intends to travel, for example, the controller 30 may choose to steer the walking assistance device 10 ahead of time to avoid, instead of avoiding when the obstacle sensing unit 203 detects that the distance between the user and the obstacle exceeds a standard distance (e.g., is less than a safe distance), whereby it may be avoided to some extent that the walking assistance device 10 and the user guided by it are not timely avoided with respect to the obstacle, for example, the forward obstacle may be an unmanned vehicle that is in a braked standby state and is intended to steer. On the other hand, when the waiting road surface in the direction in which the user intends to travel is a downhill road surface, for example, the controller 30 may reduce the moving speed of the walking assist device 10 in advance (e.g., gradually increasing the resistance applied to the capstan as the walking assist device 10 approaches the downhill road surface), so that an excessively high entry speed may be avoided from causing the user to feel uneasy while reducing the possibility of the user accidentally falling down in the downhill; secondly, the abrupt sense between man-machine interaction can be prevented from being obviously increased due to the fact that the brake instantaneously provides relatively large braking force when entering a downhill road. Particularly when the user is traveling down a downhill, suddenly rushing into one or more unintended moving objects (such as a person or animal suddenly rushing into from the side) from outside the field of view, the early deceleration may alleviate to some extent the impact generated between the user and those suddenly rushing moving objects.

It should be noted that the present invention is not exhaustive of all possible walking environment conditions in the direction in which the user intends to travel, for the sake of brevity. It is understood that the controller 30 controls the movement state of the walking assistance device 10 according to the walking environment in the direction in which the user intends to travel, including, but not limited to, adjusting the activation/braking state of the walking assistance device 10, the movement pattern (e.g., speed, direction), etc. at different times, positions.

Preferably, the controller 30 is simultaneously capable of planning the power configuration of the walking assistance device 10 based on the walking environment in the direction in which the user intends to travel, while the controller 30 determines the walking environment in the direction in which the user intends to travel from the position information of the user at different time nodes. In particular, when the waiting road surface in the direction of travel intended by the user is a continuous slope, for example, the controller 30 may reduce or shut down the power consumption of the useless functions in advance, thereby providing a sufficient power reserve for continuous slope travel. For example, the walking assist device 10 may appropriately decrease the brightness of its display portion or illuminate the display portion only when clicked or viewed by the user; or the walking assist device 10 reduces the alert frequency of background non-important messages; or the walking assist device 10 may be transitioned to a low power consumption mode of operation, etc., before entering a continuous slope. Because the continuous slope walking involves a more complex situation than a normal road surface, for example, the power distribution of the walking assistance device 10 deployed in advance before the user enters the continuous slope can not only effectively increase the activation time of the walking assistance device 10, but also enable the walking assistance device 10 to put more power into the detection and analysis of complex road conditions, thereby ensuring that the walking assistance device 10 can provide accurate and stable rehabilitation training or walking assistance planning for the user. It should be noted that the above description of the power distribution of the walking assistance device 10 is for describing the present invention in detail, but is not intended to limit the coverage of the present invention.

Example 2

The embodiment of the present invention also provides a control method of a fall-preventing walking assistance system, which may utilize the fall-preventing walking assistance system described in the above embodiment 1, and the control method of the fall-preventing walking assistance system may include the steps of:

acquiring mechanical parameters related to the user's manipulation of the walking assistance device 10 by means of the force sensing unit 201 connected to the walking assistance device 10;

acquiring characteristic gait information of a user attached to the walking assistance device 10 by the gait sensing unit 202 connected to the walking assistance device 10;

the walking assistance device 10 is switched between an activated state and a braked state in response to changes in the mechanical parameter and/or the characteristic gait information.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other steps or operations may be included before, after or between the steps described above, as long as the objects of the invention are achieved, for example, to further optimize and/or improve the methods described herein. Furthermore, while the methods described herein are illustrated and described as a series of acts that are performed in a sequence, it should be understood that the methods are not limited by the order. For example, some acts may occur in a different order than described herein. Alternatively, one action may occur simultaneously with another action.

It should be noted that the above-described embodiments are exemplary, and that a person skilled in the art, in light of the present disclosure, may devise various solutions that fall within the scope of the present disclosure and fall within the scope of the present disclosure. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the present description and drawings are illustrative and not limiting to the claims. The scope of the invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents. The description of the invention includes a plurality of inventive concepts, such as "preferably", "according to a preferred embodiment" or "optionally" each meaning that the corresponding paragraph discloses a separate concept, the applicant reserves the right to filed a divisional application according to each inventive concept.

Claims (10)

1. A fall prevention walking assist system, comprising:

a walking aid device (10) comprising a frame assembly and a moving assembly connected to the bottom of the frame assembly for driving the walking aid device (10) to move;

a sensor module (20) comprising a force sensing unit (201) and a gait sensing unit (202) arranged on the frame assembly, wherein the force sensing unit (201) is adapted to obtain a mechanical parameter related to a user manipulating the walking assistance device (10), the gait sensing unit (202) is adapted to obtain characteristic gait information of a user attached to the walking assistance device (10);

A controller (30) is communicatively coupled to the sensor module (20) and configured to switch the walking assist device (10) between an activated state and a braked state in response to changes in the mechanical parameter and/or characteristic gait information.

2. The fall prevention walking assistance system of claim 1, wherein the controller (30) is capable of determining a controlled speed of the walking assistance device (10) that matches the characteristic gait information based on the characteristic gait information acquired by the gait sensing unit (202).

3. Fall-prevention walking assistance system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it further comprises a position sensing unit (204) connected to the frame assembly, the controller (30) being able to determine the walking environment in the direction in which the user intends to travel based on the position information of the user at different time nodes acquired by the position sensing unit (204), and to control the movement state of the walking assistance device (10) according to the walking environment.

4. A fall prevention walking assistance system according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein said controller (30) is capable of planning the power configuration of said walking assistance device (10) based on the walking environment in the direction in which the user intends to travel.

5. The fall-prevention walking assistance system of any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising an obstacle sensing unit (203) arranged on said frame assembly, said obstacle sensing unit (203) being configured to sense obstacle information in a direction in which a user intends to travel, to allow said controller (30) to be able to adjust a movement state of said walking assistance device (10) based on said obstacle information.

6. The fall-prevention walking assistance system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the controller (30) is capable of switching the walking assistance device (10) between an activated state and a braked state based on a change in the movement speed of the walking assistance device (10).

7. Fall prevention walking assistance system according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that the frame assembly comprises an upper support (101) for configuring the force sensing unit (201) and for supporting the upper limb of the user, a lower support (103) for connecting the movement assembly and an adjustable middle support (102) connected between the upper support (101) and the lower support (103).

8. A control method of a fall-preventing walking assist system, comprising:

Providing a walking aid (10) comprising a frame assembly and a movement assembly attached to the bottom of said frame assembly;

acquiring mechanical parameters related to user manipulation of the walking assistance device (10) by means of a force sensing unit (201);

acquiring, by a gait sensing unit (202), characteristic gait information of a user attached to the walking assistance device (10);

switching the walking assistance device (10) between an activated state and a braked state in response to a change in the mechanical parameter and/or characteristic gait information.

9. A method of controlling a fall prevention walking assist system as claimed in claim 8, further comprising:

determining a walking environment in the traveling direction of the user intention based on the position information of the user at different time nodes;

the movement state of the walking assistance device (10) is controlled according to the walking environment.

10. A method of controlling a fall prevention walking assist system as claimed in claim 8 or 9, further comprising:

the electrical energy configuration of the walking assistance device (10) is planned based on the walking environment in the direction of intended travel of the user.