BRAIN COMMAND AND SWITCH CONTROLLED ARTIFICIAL LEG FOR PARAPLEGICS

摘要

The rapid growth in the field of science and embedded technology has led to a lot of advancements. With the help of microprocessors and microcontrollers many applications had been developed and many others are developing. One such application is the development of Roboleg exoskeleton for paralyzed people. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage at the cortex motor. Of which paraplegics face much difficulty in their daily survival. Paraplegics are dependable either on others or wheelchair. This project is to put an end to wheelchair by developing a wearable roboleg for rehabilitation using brain signals promoting voluntary action of the leg and switch controlled promoting manual operation. The two frames each for upper and lower parts of legs are combined with the help of linear actuator. This linear actuator provides required torque while walking, which in turn is driven by a DC motor. The commands for the DC motor are given with the help of microcontroller programming and it is done for straight walking and staircase climbing. For a switch controlled leg action 5 different switches are provided for brain command operation the principle of EEG is used. In this, the person is mounted with the EEG electrodes on forehead and ear. The trapped signals are amplified by the help of instrumentation amplifier and are filtered. The analog amplified output is programmed to the leg by the PIC16F877A Microcontroller. Thus, with this leg which is manual as well as voluntary controlled, the paraplegics are independent of any external aid and are self-reliable.