Design and Development of Assistive Robots for Close Interaction with People with Disabilities

People with mobility and manipulation impairments wish to live and perform tasks as independently as possible; however, for many tasks, compensatory technology does not exist, to do so. Assistive robots have the potential to address this need. This work describes various aspects of the development of three novel assistive robots: the Personal Mobility and Manipulation Appliance (PerMMA), the Robotic Assisted Transfer Device (RATD), and the Mobility Enhancement Robotic Wheelchair (MEBot). PerMMA integrates mobility with advanced bi-manual manipulation to assist people with both upper and lower extremity impairments. The RATD is a wheelchair mounted robotic arm that can lift higher payloads and its primary aim is to assist caregivers of people who cannot independently transfer from their electric powered wheelchair to other surfaces such as a shower bench or toilet. MEBot is a wheeled robot that has highly reconfigurable kinematics, which allow it to negotiate challenging terrain, such as steep ramps, gravel, or stairs. A risk analysis was performed on all three robots which included a Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and a Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) to identify potential risks and inform strategies to mitigate them. Identified risks or PerMMA include dropping sharp or hot objects. Critical risks identified for RATD included tip over, crush hazard, and getting stranded mid-transfer, and risks for MEBot include getting stranded on obstacles and tip over. Lastly, several critical factors, such as early involvement of people with disabilities, to guide future assistive robot design are presented

Methods and tools for the formulation, evaluation and optimization of rover mission concepts

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2007.Page 256 blank.Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-255).Traditionally, Mars rover missions have been conceived with a single point design approach, exploring a limited architectural trade space. The design of future missions must resolve a conflict between increasingly ambitious scientific objectives and strict technical and programmatic constraints. Therefore, there is a need for advanced mission study engineers to consider a wider range of surface exploration concepts in order to identify those with superior performance and robustness with respect to evolving mission objectives. To this end, a three stage trade space exploration approach has been developed to supplement point design development in the early conceptual phase of Mars rover missions. The product is an integrated set of theoretical methods and analytical tools which enhances the understanding and enables the rapid exploration of the rover mission trade space. In the formulation stage, the first stage of the approach, a parallel decomposition of the functional and physical aspects of Mars exploration architectures is employed to explore trade space of surface mission concepts. At each step of the decomposition, architectural alternatives are assessed with respect to stakeholder figures of merit.(cont.) The resulting concept development trees allow for a rapid assessment of a given design's strength and robustness with respect to stakeholder priorities. In the evaluation stage, the Mars Surface Exploration (MSE) rover system design tool is used to support quantitative analysis of the superior designs identified in the formulation stage. This tool, for advanced mission studies, offers unique functionality: breadth of exploration, system-level modeling fidelity and rapidity. As a demonstration of its capabilities, the tool is used to model and evaluate a multi-rover mission concept in less than two hours. In the optimization stage, two systems engineering methods are developed to optimize, with MSE, the more complex technical and physical aspects of rover mission architectures. The first method assesses the value of autonomy technologies in future missions; it is based on the principle that the monetary worth of autonomy can be evaluated by benchmarking its performance against competing solutions with known cost. The method is applied to value autonomy development for site-to-site traverse and sample approach activities.(cont.) The second method optimizes platform strategies for space exploration systems; an innovative optimization technique is developed to enumerate of all platform options. In the six rover mission campaigns analyzed, the best platform strategies are shown to generate very limited savings compared to traditional strategies. The two case studies demonstrate that the analytical capabilities of MSE combined with a theoretical structure form a valuable decision making tool for early conceptual design trade-offs.by Julien-Alexandre Lamamy.Ph.D

Large space structures and systems in the space station era: A bibliography with indexes

Bibliographies and abstracts are listed for 1372 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between January 1, 1990 and June 30, 1990. Its purpose is to provide helpful information to the researcher, manager, and designer in technology development and mission design according to system, interactive analysis and design, structural and thermal analysis and design, structural concepts and control systems, electronics, advanced materials, assembly concepts, propulsion, and solar power satellite systems

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

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center Research and Technology Report 2014

Many of NASA's missions would not be possible if it were not for the investments made in research advancements and technology development efforts. The technologies developed at Marshall Space Flight Center contribute to NASA's strategic array of missions through technology development and accomplishments. The scientists, researchers, and technologists of Marshall Space Flight Center who are working these enabling technology efforts are facilitating NASA's ability to fulfill the ambitious goals of innovation, exploration, and discovery

Toward Effective Physical Human-Robot Interaction

With the fast advancement of technology, in recent years, robotics technology has significantly matured and produced robots that are able to operate in unstructured environments such as domestic environments, offices, hospitals and other human-inhabited locations. In this context, the interaction and cooperation between humans and robots has become an important and challenging aspect of robot development. Among the various kinds of possible interactions, in this Ph.D. thesis I am particularly interested in physical human-robot interaction (pHRI). In order to study how a robot can successfully engage in physical interaction with people and which factors are crucial during this kind of interaction, I investigated how humans and robots can hand over objects to each other. To study this specific interactive task I developed two robotic prototypes and conducted human-robot user studies. Although various aspects of human-robot handovers have been deeply investigated in the state of the art, during my studies I focused on three issues that have been rarely investigated so far: Human presence and motion analysis during the interaction in order to infer non-verbal communication cues and to synchronize the robot actions with the human motion; Development and evaluation of human-aware pro-active robot behaviors that enable robots to behave actively in the proximity of the human body in order to negotiate the handover location and to perform the transfer of the object; Consideration of objects grasp affordances during the handover in order to make the interaction more comfortable for the human

Large Space Antenna Systems Technology, part 1

A compilation of the unclassified papers presented at the NASA Conference on Large Space Antenna Systems Technology covers the following areas: systems, structures technology, control technology, electromagnetics, and space flight test and evaluation

Large space structures and systems in the space station era: A bibliography with indexes (supplement 04)

Bibliographies and abstracts are listed for 1211 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between 1 Jul. and 30 Dec. 1991. Its purpose is to provide helpful information to the researcher, manager, and designer in technology development and mission design according to system, interactive analysis and design, structural concepts and control systems, electronics, advanced materials, assembly concepts, propulsion, and solar power satellite systems