DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH OF A LOCOMOTIVE WALKING VEHICLE FOR PARAPLEGICS

为了研制能在生活空间中方便地运送截瘫病人的机车车辆，提出了一种利用腿机构的步行椅的概念。从安全性、实用性和步行功能出发，提出了一种步行椅腿机构的结构。一种步行椅，具有三个在矢状平面中移动的平面腿机构，每个腿机构具有运动学上相同的尺寸，并且外两个腿以相同的相位被驱动。内腿在踝关节处具有旋转关节，用于改变行走方向。每条腿主要由两个机构组成。一个是基本机构，用于产生平坦水平地形的腿部运动;另一个是运动调节机构，用于调节台阶、楼梯、斜坡等的腿部运动。这两个机构的运动通过缩放机构传递到足部。这些机制的尺寸综合已进行。一个机构也安装在腿机构上，用于在不平坦的地形上行走时被动地稳定身体的姿态。在此基础上，研制了一台总高度为1179 mm、总质量为136 kg的步行椅样机。原型的腿机构已被证实有一个工作空间，足以在通常的楼梯上行走。该步行椅实现了在平坦的水平地面上以50步/分钟的速度稳定行走，并且实现了在具有最大高度为20 mm的台阶的不平坦地面上稳定行走。对步行椅的车体运动进行了理论分析，并考虑了腿机构的后冲和弹性变形，为设计提供了依据。

In order to develop locomotive vehicles which can transport the paraplegic on it in our life space without difficulties, a concept of walking chair by means of leg mechanisms has been proposed. A structure of leg mechanisms for a walking chair has been presented with consideration of its safety, practical usefullness as well as walking functions. A walking chair has three planar leg mechanisms moving in the sagittal planes, each of which has kinematically the same dimensions and the outer two legs are driven in the same phase. The inner leg has a revolute joint at its ankle joint for changing walking direction. Each leg is mainly composed of two mechanisms. The one is the fundamental mechanism which generates the leg motion for flat horizontal terrain and the other is the motion-adjusting mechanism which adjusts the leg motion for steps, stairs, slopes and so on. The motions of these two mechanisms are transmitted to the foot by means of a pantograph mechanism. Dimensional syntheses of these mechanisms have been carried out. A mechanism is also installed to the leg mechanism for passively stabilizing the attitude of the body during walking on uneven terrain. Based on the results mentioned above, a prototype walking chair has been constructed, whose total height and total mass are 1179mm and 136kg, respectively. The leg mechanism of the prototype has been confirmed to have a working space adequate to walking on usual stairs. The walking chair has realized stable walking on flat horizontal terrain at 50 steps/min and it has realized stable walking on uneven terrain having steps whose maximum height is 20mm. The motion of the body of the walking chair has been also analyzed theoretically with consideration of backlashes and elastic deformations of the leg mechanism, which offers design material.