Design of Wheelchair Robot for Active Postural Support (WRAPS) for Users with Trunk Impairments

People with severe trunk impairments cannot maintain or control upright posture during sitting or reaching out with the upper body. Passive orthoses are clinically available to support the trunk and promote the use of upper extremities in this population. However, these orthoses only rigidly position the torso on a wheelchair but do not facilitate movement of the trunk. In this dissertation, we introduce a novel active-assistive torso brace system for upperbody movements by a subject while seated. We have named this system as Wheelchair Robot for Active Postural Support (WRAPS). We propose designs of two robots, one for the pelvis and the other for the trunk. Each of the two devices has a parallel chain architecture to accommodate the range of motion (ROM), respectively for the pelvic and thoracic segments. The first thoracic robot was designed for the upper trunk motion relative to the pelvis. It has a 2[RP]S-2UPS architecture which provides four degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) to the end-effector placed on the upper trunk. The second is a pelvic robot which is designed to orient the pelvic segment relative to the seat. It has a 3-DOF [RRR]U-2[RR]S architecture, coupled with translation to accommodate pelvic movements relative to the seat. These robot architectures are synthesized based on human movement data. WRAPS can modulate the displacement of both the pelvic and the thoracic segments. Additionally, the forces can be applied on the torso through the end-effectors of these robots. Each of the robot prototypes was evaluated with able-bodied subjects to assess the device wearability, kinematic performances, and control system

The Development of an assistive chair for elderly with sit to stand problems

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyStanding up from a seated position, known as sit-to-stand (STS) movement, is one of the most frequently performed activities of daily living (ADLs). However, the aging generation are often encountered with STS issues owning to their declined motor functions and sensory capacity for postural control. The motivated is rooted from the contemporary market available STS assistive devices that are lack of genuine interaction with elderly users. Prior to the software implementation, the robot chair platform with integrated sensing footmat is developed with STS biomechanical concerns for the elderly. The work has its main emphasis on recognising the personalised behavioural patterns from the elderly users’ STS movements, namely the STS intentions and personalised STS feature prediction. The former is known as intention recognition while the latter is defined as assistance prediction, both achieved by innovative machine learning techniques. The proposed intention recognition performs well in multiple subjects scenarios with different postures involved thanks to its competence of handling these uncertainties. To the provision of providing the assistance needed by the elderly user, a time series prediction model is presented, aiming to configure the personalised ground reaction force (GRF) curve over time which suggests successful movement. This enables the computation of deficits between the predicted oncoming GRF curve and the personalised one. A multiple steps ahead prediction into the future is also implemented so that the completion time of actuation in reality is taken into account

Hybrid wheelchair controller for handicapped and quadriplegic patients

In this dissertation, a hybrid wheelchair controller for handicapped and quadriplegic patient is proposed. The system has two sub-controllers which are the voice controller and the head tilt controller. The system aims to help quadriplegic, handicapped, elderly and paralyzed patients to control a robotic wheelchair using voice commands and head movements instead of a traditional joystick controller. The multi-input design makes the system more flexible to adapt to the available body signals. The low-cost design is taken into consideration as it allows more patients to use this system

Biomechatronics: Harmonizing Mechatronic Systems with Human Beings

This eBook provides a comprehensive treatise on modern biomechatronic systems centred around human applications. A particular emphasis is given to exoskeleton designs for assistance and training with advanced interfaces in human-machine interaction. Some of these designs are validated with experimental results which the reader will find very informative as building-blocks for designing such systems. This eBook will be ideally suited to those researching in biomechatronic area with bio-feedback applications or those who are involved in high-end research on manmachine interfaces. This may also serve as a textbook for biomechatronic design at post-graduate level

Muscle activation patterns in shoulder impingement patients

Introduction: Shoulder impingement is one of the most common presentations of shoulder joint problems 1. It appears to be caused by a reduction in the sub-acromial space as the humerus abducts between 60o -120o – the 'painful arc'. Structures between the humeral head and the acromion are thus pinched causing pain and further pathology 2. Shoulder muscle activity can influence this joint space but it is unclear whether this is a cause or effect in impingement patients. This study aimed to observe muscle activation patterns in normal and impingement shoulder patients and determine if there were any significant differences. Method: 19 adult subjects were asked to perform shoulder abduction in their symptomatic arm and non-symptomatic. 10 of these subjects (age 47.9 ± 11.2) were screened for shoulder impingement, and 9 subjects (age 38.9 ± 14.3) had no history of shoulder pathology. Surface EMG was used to collect data for 6 shoulder muscles (Upper, middle and lower trapezius, serratus anterior, infraspinatus, middle deltoids) which was then filtered and fully rectified. Subjects performed 3 smooth unilateral abduction movements at a cadence of 16 beats of a metronome set at 60bpm, and the mean of their results was recorded. T-tests were used to indicate any statistical significance in the data sets. Significance was set at P<0.05. Results: There was a significant difference in muscle activation with serratus anterior in particular showing a very low level of activation throughout the range when compared to normal shoulder activation patterns (<30%). Middle deltoid recruitment was significantly reduced between 60-90o in the impingement group (30:58%).Trends were noted in other muscles with upper trapezius and infraspinatus activating more rapidly and erratically (63:25%; 60:27% respectively), and lower trapezius with less recruitment (13:30%) in the patient group, although these did not quite reach significance. Conclusion: There appears to be some interesting alterations in muscle recruitment patterns in impingement shoulder patients when compared against their own unaffected shoulders and the control group. In particular changes in scapula control (serratus anterior and trapezius) and lateral rotation (infraspinatus), which have direct influence on the sub-acromial space, should be noted. It is still not clear whether these alterations are causative or reactionary, but this finding gives a clear indication to the importance of addressing muscle reeducation as part of a rehabilitation programme in shoulder impingement patients

Federal Register

Daily publication of the U.S. Office of the Federal Register contains rules and regulations, proposed legislation and rule changes, and other notices, including "Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders, Federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other Federal agency documents of public interest" (p. ii). Table of Contents starts on page iii

Astronautics and aeronautics, 1973: Chronology of science, technology and policy

A brief chronological account is presented of key events of the year in aerospace sciences. Dates, actions, hardware, persons, scientific discoveries are recorded along with plans, decisions, achievements and preliminary evaluations of results. Samples of public reaction and social impact are included. Sources are identified and an index is provided to aid in tracing related events through the year. The index also serves as a glossary of acronyms and abbreviations

Путешествие

The textbook «Travelling» is the most complete specialized textbook for training specialists in English in the field of travelling. It is based on the most recent data on the main directions of the travelling industry development. The value and timeliness of this tutorial will help you on the one hand – to improve your English skills, and on the other – to make better your knowledge in your professional context. The structure of this textbook is that – four chapters: the cities of the world (English, American and others); travelling by railway, air and sea. In the book there are a lot of authentic texts in English, developed exercises, dialogues, charts, colour inserts. This tutorial allows you to learn the professional vocabulary quickly and easily and ameliorate your level of English.Даний підручник «Подорожі» є найповнішим спеціалізованим навчальним посібником із професійної підготовки фахівців з англійської мови у сфері подорожей. Він побудований на базі найсучасніших даних із основних напрямків розвитку туристичної галузі. У цьому полягає цінність і своєчасність даного навчального підручника, який допоможе, з одного боку, удосконалити знання англійської мови, а з іншого – поліпшити свої знання у професійній сфері. Структура даного підручника така – чотири розділі: великі і малі міста (прогулянка містом, історія міст, англійські міста, американські міста, міста світу); подорож залізницею, авіаподорож, морська подорож. У підручнику велика кількість автентичних текстів англійською мовою; розроблені вправи, діалоги, схеми, кольорові вкладиші. Даний підручник дозволяє швидко і легко засвоїти професійну лексику і підвищити свій рівень знання англійської мови