A Star-Wheel Stair-Climbing Wheelchair

In order to achieve a wheelchair climb stairs function, this paper designs a star-wheel stair-climbing mechanism. Through the effect of the lock coupling, the star-wheel stair-climbing mechanism is formed to be fixed axis gear train or planetary gear train achieving flat-walking and stair-climbing functions. Crossing obstacle analysis obtains the maximum height and minimum width of obstacle which the wheelchair can cross. Stress-strain analysis in Solidworks simulation is performed to verify material strength.

Tracked robot with underactuated tension-driven RRP transformable mechanism:ideas and design

Robots with transformable tracked mechanisms are widely used in complex terrains because of their high adaptability,and many studies on novel locomotion mechanisms have been conducted to make them able to climb higher obstacles.Developing underactuated transformable mechanisms for tracked robots could decrease the number of actuators used while maintaining the flexibility and obstacle-crossing capability of these robots,and increasing their cost performance.Therefore,the underactuated tracked robots have appreciable research potential.In this paper,a novel tracked robot with a newly proposed underactuated revolute‒revolute‒prismatic(RRP)transformable mechanism,which is inspired by the sit-up actions of humans,was developed.The newly proposed tracked robot has only two actuators installed on the track pulleys for moving and does not need extra actuators for transformations.Instead,it could concentrate the track belt’s tension toward one side,and the unbalanced tension would drive the linkage mechanisms to change its configuration.Through this method,the proposed underactuated design could change its external shape to create support points with the terrain and move its center of mass actively at the same time while climbing obstacles or crossing other kinds of terrains,thus greatly improving the climbing capability of the robot.The geometry and kinematic relationships of the robot and the crossing strategies for three kinds of typical obstacles are discussed.On the basis of such crossing motions,the parameters of links in the robot are designed to make sure the robot has sufficient stability while climbing obstacles.Terrain-crossing dynamic simulations were run and analyzed to prove the feasibility of the robot.A prototype was built and tested.Experiments show that the proposed robot could climb platforms with heights up to 33.3%of the robot’s length or cross gaps with widths up to 43.5%of the robot’s length.

Effects of a 12-week online Tai Chi intervention on gait and postural stability in individuals with Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson's disease(PD)affects gait and postural stability.Tai Chi(TC)is recommended for PD for management of the condition,however biomechanical understanding to its effects on gait and postural stability is limited.This study aimed to examine the effects of an online 12-week biomechanical-based TC intervention on gait and posture in people with PD.Fifteen individuals in early-stage PD were recruited(Hoehn&Yahr stages 1-2).The TC intervention program was 60min session,three times weekly for 12 weeks.The pre-and post-intervention test in obstacle crossing,timed-up-and-go(TUG)test,and single leg standing(SLS)with eyes open(EO)and closed(EC)were conducted.Gait speed,crossing stride length,clearance height of the heel and toe,anterior-posterior(AP)and medial-lateral(ML)displacement and velocity of the center of mass(COM)and separation of the COM-center of pressure(COP)were analyzed.The participants significantly improved their pre-vs.post-TC intervention performance on TUG test(p=0.002).During obstacle crossing,the participants significantly increased crossing stride length of the trailing foot,increased AP COM displacement and decreased ML COM-COP separation(p<0.05);the maximal dorsiflexion angle of the leading limb significantly increased and maximal plantarflexion angle of the trailing limb significantly decreased(p<0.05).A 12-week biomechanical-based online TC training was effective towards improvement of gait and postural stability among people in the early-stage of PD.The TC program and online training could be applied for management of PD.