Foot's Ease

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  Poster 1

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  Prototype sketch

Project Abstract

Drop foot is a neuromuscular disorder that affects people who have a number of diseases, such as sports injuries, diabetes, and hip or knee replacement. It prevents these people from lifting their ankle or toe or sideways motion of the foot. (1) To help people with drop foot, we are creating a robotic shoe that is electronically powered to lift the foot because they are unable to lift it themselves. The shoe will lift and lower the foot gently, as a person with a normal gait would do, via motors. It will also sense the proximity to the ground to lift and drop the foot appropriately and measure the pressure placed on the foot to ensure a normal gait. In addition, this design will enable real-time data collection from the users to assist doctors and physical therapists obtain more accurate data to measure the muscle strength improvement throughout the treatment process.

Sources: 1-https://www.spineuniverse.com/conditions/sciatica/drop-foot-foot-drop-steppage-gait-footdrop-gait

Notable Progresses in the Project as of 10/25

We had two notable design evolutions since the initial concept:

1) Induction charging of the shoe increases durability and waterproofing of the design, can fit into a daily routine of leaving shoes on a charging mat at the end of the day, and coils can be physically located between the heel and the mid-foot pivot point.

2) A combination of passive and active energy components for increased efficiency. By using a split-toe design (like the DynAdapt foot prosthetic), the shoe will have increased horizontal/lateral stability on uneven surfaces, despite a purely vertical actuation. By including a passive spring component in the heel, a percentage of energy from heel strike can be returned in push off that reduces the significant energy required by the motor to push off, thus conserving battery life. Note: the motor and actuation goals will be lifting the toe (2-5rpm for 3-9mph walking speed) in the natural gait cycle rather than on powering the push off (15-20 N-m), which means we can reduce motor weight and energy usage by not requiring a certain speed as well as torque.