Development of In-wheel Actuator for Active Walking Aids Equipped with Torque Sensor for User Intention Recognition

As life expectancy becomes longer, reduction of human muscular strength threatens quality of human life. Many robotic devices have thus been developed to support and help human daily life. This paper deals with a new type of in-wheel actuator that can be effectively used for the robotic devices. BLDC motor, drive board, brake, ARS (Attribute Reference System), and torque sensor are combined in the single actuator module. The torque sensor is used to recognize human intention and the in-wheel actuator drives walking aids in our system. Its feasibility was tested with the active walking aid device equipped with the in-wheel actuator. Based on it, we designed an admittance filter algorithm to react on uphill and downhill drive. By adjusting mass, damping, and spring parameters in accordance with the ARS output, it provided convenient drive to the old on uphill and downhill walks.