Re-walk trainer using roller shoes

Abstract

The intention behind this work is to provide an automated locomotion training device to aid the movement of a person with an injured leg. The device is a micro-controller based robot which is a pair of shoes with wheels that manipulates limb motion. This is achieved with the help of a DC geared motor and IR sensor. Rehabilitation after surgery is a tedious process which requires careful monitoring and constant support. If proper rehabilitation for patient is not given, it may lead to permanent impairment of the physical parts. At present the rehabilitation methods that are being used are very primitive and require a lot of improvement. In this methodology we use an IR wheel encoding sensor that can be used to determine the displacement of the leg. Here the leg which is not injured acts as a reference to the injured leg. The measured parameter is sent to the controller and accordingly the controller drives the DC geared Motor fitted with wheels provided under the shoe thus providing the motion for the injured or paralyzed leg. The following 4 parameters are measured from the patient's treated leg and the values are displayed and used for the therapy analysis - Force, Displacement Count, Temperature and Heart Rate.