Understanding mechanical BAlanCe TO WALKing rehabilitation support through wearable technologies – BAC2WALK

The recovery of a correct dynamic balance is at the heart of gait rehabilitation. However, no real consensus exists about an indicator that could be used to monitor the balance during walking either for humans or humanoid robots that share similar issue in this context. The ambition of the project if to propose concrete metrics that could be used to monitor instability during the locomotion by combining complementary approaches of biomechanics and robotics. These metrics computed from real-time capture of mechanical signals are the prerequisite for effective implementation in dedicated clinical tools to adapt the rhythm of rehabilitation to each individual. The three main objectives are to: 1/ develop a complete theoretical mechanical analysis of bipedal locomotion to quantify the instability from the equations of the dynamics of motion, 2/ classify different indicators defined from the theoretical analysis according to two criteria: i/ their performance on caricatural experiments on robots and humans ii/ their accuracy when computed from wearable technologies 3/ make a proof of concept of a wearable solution from existing sensors integrated in a prototype device able to compute the indicator in real time. The consortium gathers the complementary skills required for the project in biomechanics, health and rehabilitation, instrumentation, motion control and humanoid robotics. The impact of the project will be major for both the understanding of mechanical balance during gait from a theoretical approach and the proof of concept that dynamic based indicator can be made available in the clinical context.