James Arnold
Mechanical engineering
Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona
Graduation date: Spring 2021
MORE | Fall 2020
Variable Impedance Control of the Robotic Ankle Joint
This study introduces a variable impedance controller for implementation in wearable robots. The controller applies a range of robotic damping and stiffness to the coupled human-robot system based on the “user intent.” A wearable ankle robot was used to test this controller, and human experiments were performed to understand and quantify the effects of the controller. Subjects performed a target reaching exercise while the robot provided either constant positive damping or variable impedance. These two conditions could then be compared to analyze the performance of the system in terms of stability, agility, and human effort.
Mentor: Hyunglae Lee