Modelling an above knee prosthesis-a kinematics approach

An attempt has been made to mathematically model a totally mechanical passive type pneumatic damper controlled AK prosthesis for swing control. An Alimco, India made AK prosthesis was taken and was upgraded to a pneumatic damper controlled one. A CAD model of the same was made on ProE software and moment of inertia was found and the data were used for calculating the swing time using kinematics model approach. The prosthesis coupled with an electronic interface was experimented to find the swing time. The experimental results matched the theoretical ones within acceptable limits and it is concluded that kinematics model approach as given by the authors is an effective tool to design passive AK prosthesis and the model can also be used for designing active knees