Assistive robotic walker parameter identification for estimation of human thrust without force sensors

In this paper we propose a parameter identification procedure for the wheel-motor dynamic of a robotic walker, i.e. a commercial trolley for elderly people endowed with cognitive, sensing and guidance capabilities. The objective of the wheel-motor dynamic model is to generate a suitable time reference to be used in an estimation algorithm. The ultimate goal of the estimation algorithm is to retrieve the thrust, i.e. torque and force, that the older adult user of the robotic walker applies to the platform. These quantities are of paramount importance in order to adopt intelligent and comfortable walker guidance algorithms. The novelty of this approach is the avoidance of additional costly sensors that are usually used to solve such a problem. Experimental results are reported to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.