Design and analysis of magnetorheological damper based ankle-foot prosthesis prototype
ISSN: 0143-991X
Article publication date: 24 August 2021
Issue publication date: 11 February 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to design and analyze a controlled magnetorheological damper-based ankle-foot prosthesis prototype.
Design/methodology/approach
The ankle-foot prostheses prototype is proposed using the lightweight three dimensional (3 D)-printed parts, MR damper and digital servomotor. Initially, the computer-aided design (CAD) model of the prosthetic foot, leaf spring, retention spring and the various connecting parts required to connect the pylon and damper actuator assemblies are designed using CAD software. Later, the fused deposition modeling 3 D printer-based technique prints a prosthetic foot and other connecting parts using Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene filament. The prototype consists of two control parts: the first part controls the MR actuator that absorbs the impacts during walking. The second part is the control of the electric actuator intended to generate the dorsiflexion and plantar flexion movements. Finally, the prototype is tested on a transtibial amputee under the supervision of a prosthetist.
Findings
The ANalysis SYStems software-based analysis has shown that the prosthetic foot has a factor of safety values between 4.7 and 8.7 for heel strike, mid-swing and toe-off; hence, it is safe from mechanical failure. The designed MR damper-based ankle-foot prosthesis prototype is tested on an amputee for a level-ground walk; he felt comfortable compared to his passive prosthesis.
Originality/value
The design of an MR damper-based prosthesis prototype offers a better dynamic range for locomotion than passive prostheses. It reduces the injuries and provides relief to the transtibial amputees.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research is partially supported by Cisco thingQbator, MCIIE IIT (BHU), Cohort-3/IIT21. The authors would like to thanks Mr Lyle Rodericks, Mr Surjan Singh, Mr Inder Singh Gaur and Mr Aman Rawat for their valuable support during the experimental work.
Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
Ethics approval: This study is approved by the ethical committee of the Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU, Varanasi.
Citation
Negi, S., Sagar, U., Nautiyal, V.K. and Sharma, N. (2022), "Design and analysis of magnetorheological damper based ankle-foot prosthesis prototype", Industrial Robot, Vol. 49 No. 2, pp. 240-248. https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-04-2021-0084
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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