AIRETT
Robotic Walker
DESCRIPTION
In every person’s life, one of the primary functions is walking. It not only constitutes a fundamental element for daily life in terms of mobility per se but is a fundamental element for good health, e.g., mental, digestive and metabolic.
Some severe diseases impair the ability to walk independently, even though the musculoskeletal system is functionally little impaired. One example is Rett syndrome, a rare developmental neurological disorder predominantly affecting female subjects. This congenital disorder affects the central nervous system and is one of the most common causes of severe or very severe cognitive impairment, with significant effects on walking. The disease usually manifests itself after the first 6 to 18 months of life with the loss of motor skills, manual skills, and interest in social interaction. The incidence of the disease among 12-year-old girls is estimated at 1 in 9.000.
Girls with Rett lose the ability to ambulate independently at an early age. As a result, the family must take on the burden of supporting their daughter’s mobility, which becomes unmanageable as she gets older.
From this need, and leveraging previous experience in control systems for robotic wheelchairs, as well as through a research project funded by the Italian Rett Association, AiRett, Robosense developed in collaboration with the University of Trento a robotic walker equipped with a multisensory interface capable of giving girls with Rett syndrome the ability to walk independently.
Schematically, the system consists of the following components:
Multisensory interface capable of estimating user movement.
- Two motors in differential configuration driven by drives and an embedded computer.
- Four force sensors on the walker are connected to the user’s hips with elastic bands to acquire data on the user’s intention, which are then used to control the walker motors.
