Journal of Mechanics Engineering and Automation 5 (2015) 407-410 doi: 10.17265/2159-5275/2015.07.004 Validation of a Marker Model for Gait Analysis with Wearable Exoskeletons María Gómez 1 , Cristina López de Subijana 1 , Eloy Urendes 2 and Enrique Navarro 1 1. Faculty of Physical Activity and Sport, Technical University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain 2. Bioengineering Group of the Spanish National Research Council, Madrid 28500, Spain Abstract: The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a new marker model for optoelectronic systems adapted to wearable devices, in order to have an analysis tool for kinematic gait evaluation of reproduced patterns by exoskeletons. The marker model has a total of 36 retro-reflective markers attached bilaterally to anatomical landmarks during the static measures (without exoskeleton) and 28 markers at the dynamics measures (with exoskeleton). The main difference between others kinematic models and the described adapted model was the placement of the three markers in the back thigh and the other three in the back calf, what allowed removing the hip, thigh, knee, tibia and ankle markers. The proposed adapted marker model could be an effective tool to validate the joint movement and velocities of those wearable exoskeletons that at present have been developing. Key words: Optoelectronic system, adapted model, gait analysis. 1. Introduction Rehabilitation and functional compensation of gait is an active field of application for exoskeleton since the last fifteen years [1]. Robotic devices have been focus on improving mobility and autonomy of patients, providing longer gait training sessions and reducing the physical effort of therapists compared to manually assisted training [2, 3]. Those wearable devices attempt to reproduce humanlike kinematic gait patterns in an energy-efficient manner for a better acceptance and usability. But it is necessary to evaluate how humanlike are those patterns and if they are appropriated for rehabilitation and functional compensation of gait. The gait and motion analysis, as an effective functional outcome measure traditionally used to clinical evaluations before orthopaedic surgeons and rehabilitation [4, 5], could be an effective tool to evaluate and validate those gait patterns that wearable exoskeletons reproduce. Currently, the most of gait laboratories carry out the analysis with 3D motion capture optoelectronic systems that require Corresponding author: Maria Gómez, M. Sc., research fields: sports biomechanics and gait analysis. E-mail: maria.gomez@upm.es. retro-reflective markers attached to anatomical landmarks, principally of the pelvis, hip, knee, ankle and foot. Those anatomical points are mostly hidden by the exoskeletons what prevent from analyse gait patterns wearing them. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a new marker model for optoelectronic systems adapted to wearable devices, in order to have an analysis tool for kinematic gait evaluation of reproduced patterns by exoskeletons. 2. Material and Methods 2.1 Material and Methods The validation of the marker model was carried out with the hybrid system developed by the Spanish National Research Council. Hybrid system joins together a wearable exoskeleton robot with hip, knee and ankle control and a smart robotic walker which provides stability in dynamic and static conditions with body weight supported. The exoskeleton is height adjustable from 150 to 190 cm tall and it perfectly attach to the body subject with eight clamps. The smart robotic walker has two free rear wheels and two tractor D DAVID PUBLISHING