Advanced Controllers for Lower-limb Prostheses Enhancing Agility

Our research is focused on developing adaptive control systems for prosthetic devices that enhance user mobility and stability across varied terrains.

The key contribution of this project is the creation of intelligent controllers that dynamically adjust to changing surface conditions and user needs. We focus on predicting transitions to compliant surfaces during gait using neural and kinematic signals, which allows for smoother, more stable walking experiences for prosthesis users. Another major innovation involves the adjustment of ankle-foot prosthesis stiffness, which has been shown to improve walking stability during locomotion over compliant terrains, ensuring that users can maintain their balance and agility when encountering uneven or soft surfaces.

By advancing the control strategies for lower-limb prostheses, this research has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life for amputees by increasing their confidence in navigating diverse environments.

Work has been supported by the following grants: NSF 2020009, 2015786, 2025797, 201890.

Three Representative Papers (see Publications for a complete list)

Charikleia Angelidou and Panagiotis Artemiadis, “On Predicting Transitions to Compliant Surfaces in Human Gait via Neural and Kinematic Signals,” in IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 31:2214-2223, 2023. [link to pdf]

Chrysostomos Karakasis, Robert Salati and Panagiotis Artemiadis, “Adjusting the Quasi-Stiffness of an Ankle-Foot Prosthesis Improves Walking Stability during Locomotion over Compliant Terrain,” In the Proc. of the 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Detroit, MI, USA, pp. 2140-2145, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS55552.2023.10342344

Michael Drolet, Emiliano Quinones Yumbla, Bradley Hobbs and Panagiotis Artemiadis, “On the Effects of Visual Anticipation of Floor Compliance Changes on Human Gait: Towards Model-based Robot-Assisted Rehabilitation,” In the Proc. of the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pp. 9072-9078, 2020. [pdf]