Development of a System for Independent Ambulation of Patients with Spinal Cord Injury Using a Dataglove and a Biped Robotic Model Alejandro Garcia Blanco¹, Gildardo Jimenez Munguia² & Pedro Ochoa Moreno³ Instituto Tecnológico de Nogales, Ave. Tecnológico 911, Nogales, Sonora México División de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación ¹alejandrogarciab@itnogales.edu.mx ²gjimenezm@itnogales.edu.mx ³pochoam@itnogales.edu.mx Abstract The general focus of the project is the development of a simple, portable and economically accessible device that permits the limited movement of the inferior extremities on patients with damage on the spinal cord in the lumbar region. The present work is limited to the control system. An electronic dataglove is used as input interface. To develop the controller it was developed as output interface a mechanical model of the inferior extremities, instead of medical experimentation on patients. The controller implemented in a DSP uses a Neural Network to translate input signals to the outputs. The controller by itself is in open loop configuration. The feedback of the overall system is planned to be done by the patience’s own senses. All the compensations as in fatigue (feedback) are performed by the patient. 1. Introduction When a person suffers an interruption of the neuronal connection in the spinal cord at a lumbar level, the person loses control on its inferior extremities. This affects the capacity of the person to develop in society. Between the most evident affectations it is the capacity to walk and being able to displace by itself. For a couple of centuries, the traditional solution has been the use of a wheelchair. This has allowed the movement of people with different capacities, when using the still functional superior extremities. Nevertheless, although the wheelchair is a solution widely used is not a complete answer, in comparison to the faculties that the patience previously had. The movement is limited to the places through where the wheelchair can pass. Lately it has been seen a greater awareness of the people in this respect. Every time it is seen most frequently in public sites the installation of facilities for wheelchairs. In advanced countries many improvements have taken place in the market of the wheelchairs. Between these are motorized chairs, which do not need manual impulse. Others have movable wheel axes, which can even raise stairs. All these options can be only considered improvements to the actual wheelchair solution. In the last decades there have been some investigations in regards to the Functional Neuromuscular Stimulation or direct electrical stimulation of muscles [1] to [8]. At the moment there are a few products in the market based on this technology, but only the Parastep system has obtained the approval of the American government for its sale [9]. This system consists of a control box, external electrodes for the legs, and some other minor accessories. It only allows taking small steps, to rise and to seat. This system has a commercial cost of around $12.000 USD, way ahead of the scope of an economic product that this work has as a desirable goal The first step in any investigation involving the human body is a study of its anatomy. It was performed a study to determine the main bone structures, articulations, and muscular groups involved in the common normal gait of a person. 2. Theoretical Model Based on the results of the anatomy study, it was resolved to use a simplified theoretical model. The reason of the simplification resides in the use of the minimum possible degrees of movement necessary for a reasonable gait. The following restrictions were assumed based on the use of minimum degrees of movement: - The tibio-tarsal joint or the ankle is considered rigid. Although this joint is important to walk, it’s not essential. For this work it is not intended that the patient recovers all the previous abilities, like the Electronics, Robotics and Automotive Mechanics Conference 2008 978-0-7695-3320-9/08 $25.00 © 2008 IEEE DOI 10.1109/CERMA.2008.39 461