# CPS: Medium: Collaborative Research: User and Environment Interactive Planning and Control of Artificial Lower Limbs for Resilient Locomotion

> **NIH NIH R01** · CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $364,867

## Abstract

Today, even normal locomotion is difficult to master for people who depend on prostheses or
exoskeletons for mobility and rehabilitation, and there is a clear understanding in the wearable robotics
 community that a more interactive control of artificial limbs will be required than is common today to
 overcome this limitation. This project embraces such an interactive control. A cyber-physical approach to
 control is pursued, in which the artificial limb takes advantage of rich sensory information to continuously
 reason about and adapt its behavior to both the user and the environment in a way that improves
 locomotion stability, robustness and versatility. The specific aims of the proposed research are to
establish this cyber-physical approach for artificial limbs, to develop multi-sensory and highly dynamic
prototype exoskeletons and prostheses that enable its sensor-rich and data-intensive implementation, and
to evaluate the resulting controller benefits in human subject experiments. The project combines two
teams who will integrate their complementary expertise in legged dynamics and control, state estimation
and learning, sensor fusion, mechatronic design, real-time control, and gait analysis to achieve these
aims.
The long-term goal of this research is to improve the quality of life for people who depend on artificial
limbs for mobility and gait rehabilitation, with target populations ranging from lower limb amputees to
stroke and spinal cord injured patients to older adults requiring mobility aids. The project directly relates to
the NIBIB mission of improving health by development and acceleration of biomedical technologies. In
particular, with its focus on next generation human-robot systems for improving gait assistance and
rehabilitation, the project addresses NIBIB's strategic goal of developing innovative biomedical
technologies that integrate engineering with the physical and life sciences to solve complex problems and
improve health.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10267031
- **Project number:** 5R01EB029765-03
- **Recipient organization:** CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Hartmut Geyer
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $364,867
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10267031

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10267031, CPS: Medium: Collaborative Research: User and Environment Interactive Planning and Control of Artificial Lower Limbs for Resilient Locomotion (5R01EB029765-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10267031. Licensed CC0.

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