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A novel four-bar linkage prosthetic knee based on magnetorheological effect: principle, structure,
simulation and control
Lei Xu, Dai-Hua Wang, Qiang Fu et al.
Design and control of a prosthetic leg for above-knee amputees operated in semi-active and active
modes
Jinhyuk Park, Gun-Ha Yoon, Je-Won Kang et al.
Semi-active vibration control in cable-stayed bridges under the condition of random wind load
G Heo and Jeon Joonryong
Design and energetic evaluation of a prosthetic knee joint actuator with a lockable parallel spring
J Geeroms, L Flynn, R Jimenez-Fabian et al.
Design and testing of a regenerative magnetorheological actuator for assistive knee braces
Hao Ma, Bing Chen, Ling Qin et al.
Smart Materials and Structures
A magnetorheological damper-based
prosthetic knee (MRPK) and sliding mode
tracking control method for an MRPK-based
lower limb prosthesis
Qiang Fu1, Dai-Hua Wang1,2,3, Lei Xu1 and Gang Yuan1,2
1
Precision and Intelligence Laboratory, Department of Optoelectronic Engineering, Chongqing University,
Chongqing 400044 People’s Republic of China
2
Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Technology and Systems of the Ministry of Education of China,
Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044 People’s Republic of China
E-mail: dhwang@cqu.edu.cn
Abstract
Based on a two-bar linkage and a magnetorheological damper (MRD) with a double-ended
structure and shearing operation mode of the magnetorheological fluid, an MRD-based
prosthetic knee (MRPK) is realized. Utilizing the developed MRPK, an MRD-based lower limb
prosthesis (MRLLP) is developed, modeled, and simulated in this paper, to analyse the effects of
hysteresis of the integrated MRD on the swing angle of the shank of the MRLLP. Based on this,
a sliding mode tracking control (SMTC) method for controlling the swing angle of the shank of
the MRLLP is proposed to suppress hysteresis, along with a robustness analysis. Utilizing the
SMTC method, co-simulations on controlling the swing angle of the shank of the MRLLP are
carried out in ADAMS and Simulink. The simulation results show that the root mean square
error (RMSE) of the swing angle of the shank of the MRLLP produced by the SMTC method is
80% less than that from the computed torque plus PD (CT+PD) control method. Therefore, the
SMTC method is effective in suppressing hysteresis of the MRD. Furthermore, when the
MRLLP is disturbed, the RMSE of the swing angle of the shank of the MRLLP produced by the
SMTC method is 67% less than that from the CT+PD control method. Therefore, the SMTC
method has strong robustness to random disturbance. A rapid control prototype of the MRLLP
system and a corresponding experimental test system are established. On the established
experimental test system, experiments are carried out on control of the swing angle of the shank
of the MRLLP via the SMTC method. The results are compared with those from the ON/OFF
and the CT+PD control methods. The experimental results show that the MRPK has controllable
joint torque, and can be used to imitate the natural swing of a human knee joint. Additionally, the
RMSE of the controlled swing angle of the shank of the MRLLP produced by the SMTC method
is 34% less than that produced by the CT+PD control method and is 37% less than that from the
ON/OFF control method.
3
Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.
2
Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (2017) 045030 Q Fu et al
Figure 2. Integrated MRD: (a) the structural diagram, and; (b) the photograph. [editor to authors: in 2(b), the topmost label should read
‘piston rod’ and not ‘rob’.]
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Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (2017) 045030 Q Fu et al
Table 1. Structural parameters and material properties of the angle of the shank of the MRLLP to follow a reference tra-
developed MRD for the MRPK. jectory of the shank swing generated from the motion planner.
Parameter Symbol Value Existing MRLLPs are usually controlled by utilizing the
CT+PD control method, which includes an inner loop and an
Radius of piston rod Rr 0.009 m external feedback loop [14, 15]. In order to model and ana-
Height of magnetic disk Ld/2 0.01 m
lyze the shortcomings of an MRLLP with a CT+PD control
Fluid gap width Lg 0.001 m
method, a block diagram of the controller with the CT+PD
Radius of inner cylinder Rci 0.016 m
Radius of outer cylinder Rco 0.02 m control method for the MRLLP is presented in figure 4(b). As
Number of turns of the coil N 100 shown, the external feedback loop calculates the output of the
Material (bobbin) H68 cuprum PD controller according to the difference e between the swing
Material (other parts) 20# steel angle q2 and reference angle q 2d of the shank. Applying the
computed torque module, the inner feedback loop calculates
the nonlinear terms in the dynamic model of the MRLLP
MR fluid between the rod and the cylinder increases as the according to the swing angle q1 of the thigh and the swing
current in the coils increases, which increases the resistance to angle q2 of the shank. The inverse model of the MRD cal-
the motion of the piston rod. The structural parameters of the culates the desired driving current according to the sum of the
developed MRD are listed in table 1. outputs of the PD controller and computed torque module.
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Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (2017) 045030 Q Fu et al
Figure 3. MRLLP: (a) the structural principle, and; (b) the photograph, showing (1) thigh simulation mechanism (TSM); (ed: the TSM is not
the transfemoral socket, as you wrote here. Please check that my editing is correct.) (2) MRLLP; (3) MRPK; (4) connection tube and
prosthetic foot, and; (5) angle sensor AS1.
Table 2. Structural parameters of the developed MRLLP. relative to the cylinder; K and C are the stiffness and damping
coefficients of the MRD; z is the hysteresis operator; and μ is
Parameter Symbol Value
the scaling value of the MRD. According to [26], m is given
Thigh mass m1 1.02 kg by
Shank mass m2 2.36 kg
Length from hip to center of thigh lc1 0.3591 m m = aI b (4 )
Thigh length l1 0.4591 m where I is the driving current to the MRD, and α and β are the
Length from knee to center of shank lc2 0.163 75 m parameters related to the structure of the MRD.
According to the Bouc–Wen model [22], the hysteresis
operator z is given by
M12 , M21, M22 , C2, and G 2 are given by
z = - gz ∣ x ∣∣ z ∣n - 1 - jx ∣ z ∣n + dx (5 )
M11 = I1 + m1lc1 + m 2 l1
2 2
where g , j, d , and n are the parameters of the hysteresis
M12 = M21 = m 2 l1lc2 cos (q1 - q2 )
operator. These parameters can adjust the scale and shape of
M22 = I2 + m 2 lc2 2 the hysteresis loop.
C2 = - m 2 l1lc2 sin (q1 - q2 ) q 1 According to equations (1)–(5), we have
2
G 2 = m 2 lc2 g sin q2
(Kx + Cx + aI b z) d (q1, q2) = M21q1̈ + M22 q2̈ + C2 + G 2
where l1 and l2 are the lengths of link rods ABD and BF,
(6 )
respectively; lc1 and lc2 are the distances from hinges A and B
to p1 and p2 , respectively; I1 and I2 are the moments of inertia Equation (6) is the dynamic model of the MRLLP. The
of link rods ABD and BF, respectively; m1 and m 2 are the
left-hand side of equation (6) is the torque that the MRD
masses of link rods ABD and BF, respectively; and g is the
applies on hinge B; the first and second terms on the right-
gravitational constant, which is equal to 9.8 m s−2.
hand side are the inertia moments produced by link rods ABD
According to figure 1, the torque t2 generated by the
and BF, respectively; the last two terms on the right-hand side
MRD can be expressed as
are the torques on hinge B produced by the Coriolis/cen-
t2 = FD d (2 ) tripetal and gravitational forces.
where d is the force arm of the damping force of the MRD FD
to hinge B. 3.2. Analysing the MRLLP with the CT+PD control method
According to the Bouc–Wen model [22], the damping 3.2.1. Modeling the developed MRD and the ideal damper.
force of the MRD is expressed as To analyse the effects of hysteresis of the MRD on the swing
FD = Kx + Cx + mz (3 ) angle of the shank of the MRLLP, the concept of the ideal
damper (ID) is introduced. The ID differs from the MRD in
where x and x are the distance and speed of the piston rod that it has no hysteresis, and accordingly its damping force is
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Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (2017) 045030 Q Fu et al
Figure 4. Control system of the MRLLP: (a) the schematic diagram of the developed MRLLP with the control system, and; (b) the block
diagram of the controller with the CT+PD control method.
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Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (2017) 045030 Q Fu et al
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Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (2017) 045030 Q Fu et al
s = e + le (11)
e = q2 - q 2d
where e and x , which are the positive real numbers, are the
control gains. The first term on the right-hand side of
equation (12) is a discontinuous term ensuring that the error s
will approach 0/s over a finite period.
Observing equations (9)–(12), we have
Considering that
Figure 8. Simulated time histories of the swing angle and
u = M22-1aI b (15)
corresponding tracking error of the shanks of the MRLLP and
IDLLP with the CT+PD control method in the swing phase: (a) the
tracking trajectories, and; (b) the tracking errors.
[ed: delete indent here.] equation (13) can be rewritten as
uD = r - M22-1F (16)
method includes an inner feedback loop and an external By estimating D and F as D̂ and F̂, the control law u of
feedback loop. The external feedback loop calculates the the SMTC method is expressed as
output r of the SMC according to the difference e between the
-1
swing angle q2 and the reference angle q 2d of the shank. By u = Dˆ (r - M22-1F
ˆ) (17)
applying the computed torque module, the inner feedback
According to equation (15), the driving current to the
loop calculates the nonlinear terms in equation (6) according
MRD is expressed as
to the swing angle q1 of the thigh and the swing angle q2 of the
shank. The inverse model of the MRD calculates the driving I = (M22 a-1u)-b (18)
current according to the sum of the outputs of the SMC and
computed torque module.
According to equation (6), we have
4.2. Robustness of the SMTC method
q2̈ = M22-1aI b D + M22-1F (9 ) When x > 0 m s-1, both z and d are positive and con-
tinuously bounded, and then D is a continuous bounded
where D (=zd ) is the torque applied by the hysteresis function. Therefore, we have
operator to the knee joint, which is a positive definite boun-
ded function; and F is the torque generated by other 0 Dmin < D < Dmax (19)
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Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (2017) 045030 Q Fu et al
Figure 9. Block diagram of the controller with the proposed SMTC method for the developed MRLLP as shown in figures 3 and 4(a).
Figure 10. Co-simulation model of the developed MRLLP: (a) the rigid model in ADAMS, and; (b) the feedback control model in Simulink.
D 2⎤
where Dmin and Dmax are the upper and lower boundaries of
D, then
-
Dˆ
ks ⎦ - M22-1 (F - Fˆ ) s + ( - 1)
D
Dˆ
D
Dˆ
d
- h ∣s ∣ -h ∣s ∣
D 2
´ (q2̈ - le) s - ks (24)
Dˆ
g -1 g
D
(21)
Dˆ
1
According to equations (22)–(24), when Dmin D
where g = ( ).
Dmax
Dmin
2
Dmax and the sliding mode condition given by inequality (24)
is satisfied, the error function s will converge to 0/s at a
According to equations (9) and (12), we have convergence rate greater than h . Therefore, the SMTC method
is robust.
⎡ ⎤
s = ⎣M22-1 F - ( D ˆ
Dˆ
F )+( D
Dˆ
d
)
- 1 (q2̈ - le) ⎦
D
- (esign (s) + ks) (22) 4.3. Numerical simulation
Dˆ
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Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (2017) 045030 Q Fu et al
Figure 12. Time history of the swing angle generated by the TSM of
the test platform for prosthetic knees for a gait cycle time of 1 s.
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Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (2017) 045030 Q Fu et al
Figure 16. Test system: (1) test platform for prosthetic knees; (2)
HJSM with angle sensor AS2; (3) TSM; (4) MRLLP; (5) host
computer; (6) real-time simulation system, and; (7) current driver.
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Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (2017) 045030 Q Fu et al
Figure 17. Experimental time histories of the swing angle and Figure 18. Experimental time histories of the swing angle and
tracking error of the shank of the MRLLP via the SMTC method. tracking error of the shank of the MRLLP via the OFF control
method.
5. Experiments and results
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Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (2017) 045030 Q Fu et al
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Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (2017) 045030 Q Fu et al
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