A Service Robot for Navigation Assistance and Physical Rehabilitation of Seniors

The population of the advanced countries is ageing, with the direct consequence that an increasing number of people will have to live with sensitive, cognitive and physical disabilities. People with impaired physical ability are not confident to move alone, especially in crowded environment and for long journeys, highly reducing the quality of their life. We propose a new generation of robotic walking assistants whose mechanical and electronic components are conceived to optimize the collaboration between the robot and its users. We will apply these general ideas to investigate the interaction between older adults and a robotic walker, named FriWalk, exploiting it either as a navigational or as a rehabilitation aid. For the use of the FriWalk as a navigation assistance, the system guides the user securing high levels of safety, a perfect compliance with the social rules and non-intrusive interaction between human and machine. To this purpose, we developed several guidance systems ranging from completely passive strategies to active solutions exploiting either the rear or the front motors mounted on the robot. The common strategy at the basis of all the algorithms is that the responsibility of the locomotion belongs always to the user, both to increase the mobility of elder users and to enhance their perception of control over the robot. This way the robot intervenes only whenever it is strictly necessary not to mitigate the user safety. Moreover, the robotic walker has been endowed with a tablet and graphical user interface (GUI) which provides the user with the visual indications about the path to follow. Since the FriWalk was developed to suit the needs of users with different deficits, we conducted extensive human-robot interaction (HRI) experiments with elders, complemented with direct interviews of the participants. As concerns the use of the FriWalk as a rehabilitation aid, force sensing to estimate the torques applied by the user and change the user perceived inertia can be exploited by doctors to let the user feel the device heavier or lighter. Moreover, thanks to a new generation of sensors, the device can be exploited in a clinical context to track the performance of the users' rehabilitation exercises, in order to assist nurses and doctors during the hospitalization of older adults

Authority-Sharing Control of Assistive Robotic Walkers

A recognized consequence of population aging is a reduced level of mobility, which undermines the life quality of several senior citizens. A promising solution is represented by assisitive robotic walkers, combining the benefits of standard walkers (improved stability and physical support) with sensing and computing ability to guarantee cognitive support. In this context, classical robot control strategies designed for fully autonomous systems (such as fully autonomous vehicles, where the user is excluded from the loop) are clearly not suitable, since the user’s residual abilities must be exploited and practiced. Conversely, to guarantee safety even in the presence of user’s cognitive deficits, the responsibility of controlling the vehicle motion cannot be entirely left to the assisted person. The authority-sharing paradigm, where the control authority, i.e., the capability of controlling the vehicle motion, is shared between the human user and the control system, is a promising solution to this problem. This research develops control strategies for assistive robotic walkers based on authority-sharing: this way, we ensure that the walker provides the user only the help he/she needs for safe navigation. For instance, if the user requires just physical support to reach the restrooms, the robot acts as a standard rollator; however, if the user’s cognitive abilities are limited (e.g., the user does not remember where the restrooms are, or he/she does not recognize obstacles on the path), the robot also drives the user towards the proper corridors, by planning and following a safe path to the restrooms. The authority is allocated on the basis of an error metric, quantifying the distance between the current vehicle heading and the desired movement direction to perform the task. If the user is safely performing the task, he/she is endowed with control authority, so that his/her residual abilities are exploited. Conversely, if the user is not capable of safely solving the task (for instance, he/is going to collide with an obstacle), the robot intervenes by partially or totally taking the control authority to help the user and ensure his/her safety (for instance, avoiding the collision). We provide detailed control design and theoretical and simulative analyses of the proposed strategies. Moreover, extensive experimental validation shows that authority-sharing is a successful approach to guide a senior citizen, providing both comfort and safety. The most promising solutions include the use of haptic systems to suggest the user a proper behavior, and the modification of the perceived physical interaction of the user with the robot to gradually share the control authority using a variable stiffness vehicle handling

A walking assistant using brakes and low cost sensors

Smart Walkers are a category of robotic assistive devices particularly useful for the elderly. These systems help the users in locomotion and with respect to the classical walkers, reduce the risk of fall. This work presents a new system that has been developed using low-cost time of flight laser sensors in place of the more expensive laser scanners. Control of direction is performed by guiding the user by mean of brakes on the rear wheels. Other sensors include an inertial measurement unit with magnetometer and an interface with an external absolute localization system. Preliminary trials have been performed on a graphical and physical simulator implemented in the V-Rep framework

Rehabilitation Engineering

Population ageing has major consequences and implications in all areas of our daily life as well as other important aspects, such as economic growth, savings, investment and consumption, labour markets, pensions, property and care from one generation to another. Additionally, health and related care, family composition and life-style, housing and migration are also affected. Given the rapid increase in the aging of the population and the further increase that is expected in the coming years, an important problem that has to be faced is the corresponding increase in chronic illness, disabilities, and loss of functional independence endemic to the elderly (WHO 2008). For this reason, novel methods of rehabilitation and care management are urgently needed. This book covers many rehabilitation support systems and robots developed for upper limbs, lower limbs as well as visually impaired condition. Other than upper limbs, the lower limb research works are also discussed like motorized foot rest for electric powered wheelchair and standing assistance device