Motion control of omni-directional type walking support system "Walking Helper"

In this paper, we develop a prototype of an intelligent walking support system referred to as walking helper and propose a motion control algorithm for it. Walking Helper consists of an omni-directional mobile base, a body force sensor, a support frame and a cover around the mobile base. By using the omni-directional mobile base and body force sensor, the good maneuverability and the high safety of walking helper are realized. In addition, we propose a motion control algorithm referred to as adaptive caster action to utilize walking helper effectively in an environment such as a home, an office, a hospital, etc. The proposed control algorithm is experimentally applied to the developed walking helper, and the validity of the proposed control algorithm is illustrated by the experimental results.