Development of a Novel Six-Axis Force/Moment Sensor Attached to a Prosthetic Limb for the Unrestrained Gait Measurement

Since the number of trans-femoral amputees has increased by industrial or traffic accidents in modern society, a prosthetic limb has been required. In this case, those amputees must regain moving pattern by efficient gait training using load conditions on a prosthetic limb as quantitative evaluation indices. However, conventional gait training systems cannot measure long continuous walking motions. In this paper, a novel six-axis force/moment sensor, which is attached to a prosthetic limb for the unrestrained gait measurement, is developed. As a result of applying response surface method and desirability function, optimum design variables to reduce interference components are obtained. Finally, characteristics test by applying optimum design variables is performed and the effectiveness of the developed sensor is validated.