End-to-end impedance modeling towards task-invariant control of powered prosthetic legs

Ended Project Grant Awarded Last action

Award ID
F32HD116414
Recipient
Awarding agency
Obligated
$181,905

Award facts

Completion date
Place of performance
Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA

Award details come from USAspending.gov.

Description

Abstract
Millions of americans live with lower-limb loss, and powered prosthetic legs can return joint functionality via effectively designed control paradigms. While individual control approaches have shown effectiveness for multiple primary activities of daily living (adls), such as walking on flat ground, ramps, or stairs, the integration of these approaches into a single unified controller has remained a research challenge. State-of-the-art approaches use classification strategies to discretely change between various task-specific controllers, but the susceptibility of this approach to misclassification errors, its finite ability to span adls, and its unnaturally abrupt nature render this approach undesirable. No lower-limb prosthesis controller currently exists that can enable the primary adls continuously and without classification. As such, the objective of this project is two-fold: to discover explicit models for the relationship between lower-limb kinematics and desired prosthetic joint impedance parameters (stiffness, damping, and equilibrium angle), and to use these models to develop a novel end-to-end impedance control paradigm that can allow individuals with transfemoral amputation to seamlessly, accurately, and reliably span all primary adls. Encouraged by tangential relationships in the literature and the preliminary data presented in this proposal, i hypothesize that at least one model can be discovered for each impedance parameter of the prosthetic knee and ankle to implement such a control scheme. Specifically, aim 1 of this proposal will focus on the model discovery using a publicly available dataset of human locomotion across a wide range of adls. Then, in aim 2, the discovered models and related findings will be used to inform the experimental control of a powered knee-ankle prosthesis under a variety of conditions. Successful completion of these aims will contribute to enhanced understanding of human limb coordination and biological joint impedance, as well as the development and validation of a novel prosthetic control paradigm that can greatly enhance the performance of powered prostheses in clinical and real-world environments. These outcomes have the potential to improve the mobility, independence, and quality of life of individuals with transfemoral amputation and can lead to complimentary contributions for transtibial prostheses and lower-limb exoskeletons. Additionally, the proposed technical and professional training will prepare the PI for a successful career as a tenure-track professor at a research-intensive university, with focus in the fields of lower-limb prosthetic and exoskeleton advancement.

Transactions

Action Obligated Date
Amendment $895
Amendment $32,130
Amendment $1,224
Amendment $0
Amendment $73,828
Amendment $73,828
Original award $0

Quick answers

Who received award F32HD116414?

F32HD116414 was awarded to Regents Of The University Of Michigan by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (National Institutes of Health) on April 1, 2025.

How much is award F32HD116414 worth?

$181,905 has been obligated on F32HD116414.

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