Classificação de pacientes para adaptação de cadeira de rodas inteligente

Doutoramento em Engenharia InformáticaA importância e preocupação dedicadas à autonomia e independência das pessoas idosas e dos pacientes que sofrem de algum tipo de deficiência tem vindo a aumentar significativamente ao longo das últimas décadas. As cadeiras de rodas inteligentes (CRI) são tecnologias que podem ajudar este tipo de população a aumentar a sua autonomia, sendo atualmente uma área de investigação bastante ativa. Contudo, a adaptação das CRIs a pacientes específicos e a realização de experiências com utilizadores reais são assuntos de estudo ainda muito pouco aprofundados. A cadeira de rodas inteligente, desenvolvida no âmbito do Projeto IntellWheels, é controlada a alto nível utilizando uma interface multimodal flexível, recorrendo a comandos de voz, expressões faciais, movimentos de cabeça e através de joystick. Este trabalho teve como finalidade a adaptação automática da CRI atendendo às características dos potenciais utilizadores. Foi desenvolvida uma metodologia capaz de criar um modelo do utilizador. A investigação foi baseada num sistema de recolha de dados que permite obter e armazenar dados de voz, expressões faciais, movimentos de cabeça e do corpo dos pacientes. A utilização da CRI pode ser efetuada em diferentes situações em ambiente real e simulado e um jogo sério foi desenvolvido permitindo especificar um conjunto de tarefas a ser realizado pelos utilizadores. Os dados foram analisados recorrendo a métodos de extração de conhecimento, de modo a obter o modelo dos utilizadores. Usando os resultados obtidos pelo sistema de classificação, foi criada uma metodologia que permite selecionar a melhor interface e linguagem de comando da cadeira para cada utilizador. A avaliação para validação da abordagem foi realizada no âmbito do Projeto FCT/RIPD/ADA/109636/2009 - "IntellWheels - Intelligent Wheelchair with Flexible Multimodal Interface". As experiências envolveram um vasto conjunto de indivíduos que sofrem de diversos níveis de deficiência, em estreita colaboração com a Escola Superior de Tecnologia de Saúde do Porto e a Associação do Porto de Paralisia Cerebral. Os dados recolhidos através das experiências de navegação na CRI foram acompanhados por questionários preenchidos pelos utilizadores. Estes dados foram analisados estatisticamente, a fim de provar a eficácia e usabilidade na adequação da interface da CRI ao utilizador. Os resultados mostraram, em ambiente simulado, um valor de usabilidade do sistema de 67, baseado na opinião de uma amostra de pacientes que apresentam os graus IV e V (os mais severos) de Paralisia Cerebral. Foi também demonstrado estatisticamente que a interface atribuída automaticamente pela ferramenta tem uma avaliação superior à sugerida pelos técnicos de Terapia Ocupacional, mostrando a possibilidade de atribuir automaticamente uma linguagem de comando adaptada a cada utilizador. Experiências realizadas com distintos modos de controlo revelaram a preferência dos utilizadores por um controlo compartilhado com um nível de ajuda associado ao nível de constrangimento do paciente. Em conclusão, este trabalho demonstra que é possível adaptar automaticamente uma CRI ao utilizador com claros benefícios a nível de usabilidade e segurança.The importance and concern given to the autonomy and independence of elderly people and patients suffering from some kind of disability has been growing significantly in the last few decades. Intelligent wheelchairs (IW) are technologies that can increase the autonomy and independence of this kind of population and are nowadays a very active research area. However, the adaptations to users’ specificities and experiments with real users are topics that lack deeper studies. The intelligent wheelchair, developed in the context of the IntellWheels project, is controlled at a high-level through a flexible multimodal interface, using voice commands, facial expressions, head movements and joystick as its main input modalities. This work intended to develop a system enabling the automatic adaptation, to the user characteristics, of the previously developed intelligent wheelchair. A methodology was created enabling the creation of a user model. The research was based on the development of a data gathering system, enabling the collection and storage of data from voice commands, facial expressions, head and body movements from several patients with distinct disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy. The wheelchair can be used in different situations in real and simulated environments and a serious game was developed where different tasks may be performed by users. Data was analysed using knowledge discovery methods in order to create an automatic patient classification system. Based on the classification system, a methodology was developed enabling to select the best wheelchair interface and command language for each patient. Evaluation was performed in the context of Project FCT/RIPD/ADA/109636/ 2009 – “IntellWheels – Intelligent Wheelchair with Flexible Multimodal Interface”. Experiments were conducted, using a large set of patients suffering from severe physical constraints in close collaboration with Escola Superior de Tecnologia de Saúde do Porto and Associação do Porto de Paralisia Cerebral. The experiments using the intelligent wheelchair were followed by user questionnaires. The results were statistically analysed in order to prove the effectiveness and usability of the adaptation of the Intelligent Wheelchair multimodal interface to the user characteristics. The results obtained in a simulated environment showed a 67 score on the system usability scale based in the opinion of a sample of cerebral palsy patients with the most severe cases IV and V of the Gross Motor Function Scale. It was also statistically demonstrated that the data analysis system advised the use of an adapted interface with higher evaluation than the one suggested by the occupational therapists, showing the usefulness of defining a command language adapted to each user. Experiments conducted with distinct control modes revealed the users' preference for a shared control with an aid level taking into account the level of constraint of the patient. In conclusion, this work demonstrates that it is possible to adapt an intelligent wheelchair to the user with clear usability and safety benefits

A novel approach to identify and quantify activity and performance in wheelchair rugby

Existing methods for performance and activity monitoring of court-based wheelchair sports such as wheelchair rugby during actual matches have their limitations. They either require too much manual efforts or they gather insufficient information. Inertia sensors have the ability to measure substantial amounts of movement data but there is no known method to decipher that huge amount of data for quantifying activity or performance. Based on literature, Fractal dimensions have been applied to signals of physical parameters measured as a time series in the field of sports, biomedical and manufacturing. In all these cases Fractal dimensions of the time-based signals were able to identify different states or conditions accurately. There are several methods of determining Fractal dimensions and for this study, two were narrowed down – one based on Renyi’s generalized dimension (S0) and the other based on Hausdorff dimension (DH). A feasibility study was first conducted to investigate the Fractal dimensions of forward accelerations during manual wheelchair pushing using the two methods. The outcome showed that generally higher Fractal dimension values were linked to higher push amplitudes and frequencies or a higher activeness level. It was identified that S0 related to energy released to the environment while DH showed a connection with activity level. This was then taken further by capturing forward/backward accelerations of wheelchairs during actual wheelchair rugby matches. S0 and DH were calculated from the acceleration data, and four methods were developed using S0 and DH values to identify and quantify activity and performance of the wheelchair rugby athletes. Those methods include cumulative plots of S0 and DH; a Decision template formed using a 2D plot of S0 against DH, and Activities Ranking that is also based on the 2D plot. After the basic process of the methods was developed, steps were taken to optimize the values of S0 and DH such that they are optimal for the identification and quantification outcome of wheelchair rugby activities. The factors that influence S0 and DH values include parameters of the inertia sensing device (sensor resolution and sampling rate), running average window width and amplitude multiplier for calculating DH. In the end, although the number of athletes that were tested was small, the analysis outcome supported results from previous studies where athletes of higher functional classifications showed higher performance. The analysis of activity ranking which had an accuracy of 95% also highlighted that difference in activities between the athletes related highly with their functional classifications and their role or position in the team. The results of the analysis proved to be relevant for coaching, planning matches and even for talent identification

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

Spartan Daily, September 19, 2003

Volume 121, Issue 16https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/9882/thumbnail.jp

The BG News March 27, 2008

The BGSU campus student newspaper March 27, 2008. Volume 98 - Issue 127https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/8903/thumbnail.jp

Climbing and Walking Robots

With the advancement of technology, new exciting approaches enable us to render mobile robotic systems more versatile, robust and cost-efficient. Some researchers combine climbing and walking techniques with a modular approach, a reconfigurable approach, or a swarm approach to realize novel prototypes as flexible mobile robotic platforms featuring all necessary locomotion capabilities. The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of the latest wide-range achievements in climbing and walking robotic technology to researchers, scientists, and engineers throughout the world. Different aspects including control simulation, locomotion realization, methodology, and system integration are presented from the scientific and from the technical point of view. This book consists of two main parts, one dealing with walking robots, the second with climbing robots. The content is also grouped by theoretical research and applicative realization. Every chapter offers a considerable amount of interesting and useful information

What do Collaborations with the Arts Have to Say About Human-Robot Interaction?

This is a collection of papers presented at the workshop What Do Collaborations with the Arts Have to Say About HRI , held at the 2010 Human-Robot Interaction Conference, in Osaka, Japan