Overcoming barriers and increasing independence: service robots for elderly and disabled people

This paper discusses the potential for service robots to overcome barriers and increase independence of elderly and disabled people. It includes a brief overview of the existing uses of service robots by disabled and elderly people and advances in technology which will make new uses possible and provides suggestions for some of these new applications. The paper also considers the design and other conditions to be met for user acceptance. It also discusses the complementarity of assistive service robots and personal assistance and considers the types of applications and users for which service robots are and are not suitable

Assistive mobility devices focusing on smart walkers : classification and review

In an aging society it is extremely important to develop devices, which can support and aid the elderly in their daily life. This demands means and tools that extend independent living and promote improved health. Thus, the goal of this article is to review the state of the art in the robotic technology for mobility assistive devices for people with mobility disabilities. The important role that robotics can play in mobility assistive devices is presented, as well as the identification and survey of mobility assistive devices subsystems with a particular focus on the walkers technology. The advances in the walkers’ field have been enormous and have shown a great potential on helping people with mobility disabilities. Thus it is presented a review of the available literature of walkers and are discussed major advances that have been made and limitations to be overcome

Kinematics and Robot Design IV, KaRD2021

This volume collects the papers published on the special issue “Kinematics and Robot Design IV, KaRD2021” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/robotics/special_issues/KaRD2021), which is the forth edition of the KaRD special-issue series, hosted by the open-access journal “MDPI Robotics”. KaRD series is an open environment where researchers can present their works and discuss all the topics focused on the many aspects that involve kinematics in the design of robotic/automatic systems. Kinematics is so intimately related to the design of robotic/automatic systems that the admitted topics of the KaRD series practically cover all the subjects normally present in well-established international conferences on “mechanisms and robotics”. KaRD2021, after the peer-review process, accepted 12 papers. The accepted papers cover some theoretical and many design/applicative aspects

Design and control of a sit-to-stand assistive device based on analysis of kinematics and dynamics

Sit-to-stand is a common activity in daily life. It is difficult for the elderly and patients with lower limb disorders to complete this motion due to limb pain, muscle weakness, partial loss of motor control function, and physical defects in joints. An STS assistive device is a piece of automated medical equipment that can facilitate rehabilitation training for patients with lower limb disorders and improve their lower limb function. In this paper, we introduce a 3-DOF series type STS assistive device. First, we selected 26 healthy adults to carry out an STS transfer experiment, and we obtained the trajectory and velocity of each joint and the law of plantar pressure during STS motion. Second, based on the above kinematics and dynamics law, a 3-DOF series mechanism was designed. Through forward and inverse kinematics analysis, the relationship between the end-effector and the linear actuator was established. The trajectory planning of the end-effector was carried out according to the natural STS transfer trajectory, and the law of the linear actuator was obtained. The trajectory planning was verified by ADAMS. Finally, the Arduino controller was used to build the control system of the STS assistive device, and the prototype experiment was carried out

Mobile assistive technologies for the visually impaired

There are around 285 million visually impaired people worldwide, and around 370,000 people are registered as blind or partially sighted in the UK. Ongoing advances in information technology (IT) are increasing the scope for IT-based mobile assistive technologies to facilitate the independence, safety, and improved quality of life of the visually impaired. Research is being directed at making mobile phones and other handheld devices accessible via our haptic (touch) and audio sensory channels. We review research and innovation within the field of mobile assistive technology for the visually impaired and, in so doing, highlight the need for successful collaboration between clinical expertise, computer science, and domain users to realize fully the potential benefits of such technologies. We initially reflect on research that has been conducted to make mobile phones more accessible to people with vision loss. We then discuss innovative assistive applications designed for the visually impaired that are either delivered via mainstream devices and can be used while in motion (e.g., mobile phones) or are embedded within an environment that may be in motion (e.g., public transport) or within which the user may be in motion (e.g., smart homes)

Robotics 2010

Without a doubt, robotics has made an incredible progress over the last decades. The vision of developing, designing and creating technical systems that help humans to achieve hard and complex tasks, has intelligently led to an incredible variety of solutions. There are barely technical fields that could exhibit more interdisciplinary interconnections like robotics. This fact is generated by highly complex challenges imposed by robotic systems, especially the requirement on intelligent and autonomous operation. This book tries to give an insight into the evolutionary process that takes place in robotics. It provides articles covering a wide range of this exciting area. The progress of technical challenges and concepts may illuminate the relationship between developments that seem to be completely different at first sight. The robotics remains an exciting scientific and engineering field. The community looks optimistically ahead and also looks forward for the future challenges and new development

Design Issues and Application of Cable-Based Parallel Manipulators for Rehabilitation Therapy

In this study, cable-based manipulators are proposed for application in rehabilitation therapies. Cable-based manipulators show good features that are very useful when the system has to interact with humans. In particular, they can be used to aid motion or as monitoring/training systems in rehabilitation therapies. Modelling and simulation of both active and passive cable-based parallel manipulators are presented for an application to help older people, patients or disabled people in the sit-to-stand transfer and as a monitoring/training system. Experimental results are presented by using built prototypes

Design of a 4-DOF grounded exoskeletal robot for shoulder and elbow rehabilitation

The number of cerebrovascular and neuromuscular diseases is increasing in parallel with the rising average age of the world’s population. Since the shoulder anatomy is complex, the number of rehabilitation robots for shoulder movements is limited. This paper presents the mechanical design, control, and testing of 4 degrees of freedom (DOF) grounded upper limb exoskeletal robot. It is capable of four different therapeutic exercises (passive, active assistive, isotonic, and isometric). During the mechanical design, the forces to be exposed to the robot were determined and after the design, the system was tested with strength analysis. Also, a low-cost electromyograph device was developed and integrated into the system to measure muscular activation for feedback and instantaneously muscle activation control for the physiotherapist during the therapy. The system can be used for rehabilitation on the shoulder and elbow.  A PID controller for position-controlled exercises was developed. The test results were presented in terms of simulation and the real system for passive exercise. According to the test results, the developed system can perform the passive exercise and can be used for other therapeutic exercises as well

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