Climbing and Walking Robots

Nowadays robotics is one of the most dynamic fields of scientific researches. The shift of robotics researches from manufacturing to services applications is clear. During the last decades interest in studying climbing and walking robots has been increased. This increasing interest has been in many areas that most important ones of them are: mechanics, electronics, medical engineering, cybernetics, controls, and computers. Today’s climbing and walking robots are a combination of manipulative, perceptive, communicative, and cognitive abilities and they are capable of performing many tasks in industrial and non- industrial environments. Surveillance, planetary exploration, emergence rescue operations, reconnaissance, petrochemical applications, construction, entertainment, personal services, intervention in severe environments, transportation, medical and etc are some applications from a very diverse application fields of climbing and walking robots. By great progress in this area of robotics it is anticipated that next generation climbing and walking robots will enhance lives and will change the way the human works, thinks and makes decisions. This book presents the state of the art achievments, recent developments, applications and future challenges of climbing and walking robots. These are presented in 24 chapters by authors throughtot the world The book serves as a reference especially for the researchers who are interested in mobile robots. It also is useful for industrial engineers and graduate students in advanced study

Wearable exoskeletons to support ambulation in people with neuromuscular diseases, design rules and control

Neuromuscular diseases are degenerative and, thus far, incurable disorders that lead to large muscle wasting. They result in constant deterioration of activities of daily living and in particular of ambulation. Some common types include Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, polymyositis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. While these diseases individually have a low rate of occurrence and are mostly unknown to most people, collectively they affect a significant part of the population. About 1 person in 2000 suffer from neuromuscular diseases, which means an approximate total of 370â000 people over the European continent. Recent technology breakthroughs have made possible the realization of advanced powered orthotics, which are commonly called exoskeletons. The most advanced devices have successfully been able to support patients in walking despite a debilitating condition such as complete spinal cord injury. Such technology could be ideal for people with mid-stage neuromuscular diseases as it provides more mobility and independence. This work investigates the definitions and requirements that would need to be fulfilled for any proposed orthotic device to assist people living with neuromuscular diseases. To define the needs of patients with neuromuscular disease, a large literature review is conducted on gait compensation patterns. The research also includes the data collection of experimental gait measurements from fourteen people with heterogeneous neuromuscular diseases. Conclusions show that orthotics for people with neuromuscular diseases require tunable assistance at each joint and a collaborative control strategy in order to let the user control motion. Eventually, most people may not be able to use crutches. A full lower limb exoskeleton, AUTONOMYO, is designed, realized and evaluated. A particular attention is put on the optimization of the actuator and transmission units. In order to reduce the effects of inertia and weight of those units, a design is explored with actuation remotely located from the joints. The transmission is realized by custom cable wire and pulley systems, combined with standard planetary gears. The dynamics of different coupling between the hip and the knee flexion/extension joints are explored, and their benefits and tradeoffs analyzed. A novel control strategy based on a finite-state active impedance model is designed and implemented on the AUTONOMYO device. The controller consists of three states of different active impedances mimicking a visco-elastic behavior. The switching condition between states is uniquely based on the hip flexion velocity to detect the user intent. The performance of the strategy regarding the detection of intention and the modulation of the assistance is evaluated on a test bench and in real conditions with healthy pilots and with a person with limb girdle muscular dystrophy. The preliminary results are promising since all pilots (including the one with muscular dystrophy) are able to initiate and terminate assisted walking on demand. They are all able both to walk with a good stride rate and to reach moderate velocities. Healthy pilots are able to ambulate alone with the exoskeleton, while the pilot with muscular dystrophy requires human assistance for the management of balance

Design of a Mobile Robotic Platform with Variable Footprint

This thesis presents an in-depth investigation to determine the most suitable mobile base design for a powerful and dynamic robotic manipulator. It details the design process of such a mobile platform for use in an indoor human environment that is to carry a two-arm upper-body humanoid manipulator system. Through systematic dynamics analysis, it was determined that a variable footprint holonomic wheeled mobile platform is the design of choice for such an application. Determining functional requirements and evaluating design options is performed for the platform’s general configuration, geometry, locomotion system, suspension, and propulsion, with a particularly in-depth evaluation of the problem of overcoming small steps. Other aspects such as processing, sensing and the power system are dealt with sufficiently to ensure the feasibility of the overall proposed design. The control of the platform is limited to that necessary to determine the appropriate mechanical components. Simulations are performed to investigate design problems and verify performance. A basic CAD model of the system is included for better design visualization. The research carried out in this thesis was performed in cooperation with the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt)’s Robotics and Mechatronics Institute (DLR RM). The DLR RM is currently utilizing the findings of this research to finish the development of the platform with a target completion date of May 2008

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

System Identification of Bipedal Locomotion in Robots and Humans

The ability to perform a healthy walking gait can be altered in numerous cases due to gait disorder related pathologies. The latter could lead to partial or complete mobility loss, which affects the patients’ quality of life. Wearable exoskeletons and active prosthetics have been considered as a key component to remedy this mobility loss. The control of such devices knows numerous challenges that are yet to be addressed. As opposed to fixed trajectories control, real-time adaptive reference generation control is likely to provide the wearer with more intent control over the powered device. We propose a novel gait pattern generator for the control of such devices, taking advantage of the inter-joint coordination in the human gait. Our proposed method puts the user in the control loop as it maps the motion of healthy limbs to that of the affected one. To design such control strategy, it is critical to understand the dynamics behind bipedal walking. We begin by studying the simple compass gait walker. We examine the well-known Virtual Constraints method of controlling bipedal robots in the image of the compass gait. In addition, we provide both the mechanical and control design of an affordable research platform for bipedal dynamic walking. We then extend the concept of virtual constraints to human locomotion, where we investigate the accuracy of predicting lower limb joints angular position and velocity from the motion of the other limbs. Data from nine healthy subjects performing specific locomotion tasks were collected and are made available online. A successful prediction of the hip, knee, and ankle joints was achieved in different scenarios. It was also found that the motion of the cane alone has sufficient information to help predict good trajectories for the lower limb in stairs ascent. Better estimates were obtained using additional information from arm joints. We also explored the prediction of knee and ankle trajectories from the motion of the hip joints

Fitness of Play: A Prototype for a Holistic Activity Space at Toronto’s Riverdale Park

The value of personal well-being and execution of fitness varies between individuals as the constant transformation of societal ideologies around fitness continually impact the macro perception. This in turn leaves the notion of fitness to lack stability and security. With the influence of visually stimulating exchanges through virtual interactions in the contemporary world, the body becomes a means of public expression and social identity that places a priority on certain physical and aesthetic conditions of the human body, rather than their degree of health, uniqueness and ability. With such backdrop, the contemporary notion of fitness that encapsulates ideas around a socially constructed ‘ideal’ becomes the motivational drive of physical exercise for many. The body-obsessive fitness facilities catered towards a group at large reinforces these socially constructed values as it becomes the location for the production of the ill-defined ‘ideal’ bodies. The excessive mechanical rigidity and spatial linearity of the fitness floor plans generates a mechanical notion of strength and power; gym equipment and machines that limit the amount of self-induced movements produce robotic and mindless movements; all of which emanate an intimidating and isolating milieu that dismisses the importance of emotional well-being, playful social interactions and a synergy of the mind and body. The first portion of this thesis examines the fluid nature of fitness culture and the effect of technology and media on promulgating ideas around fitness, as well as its subsequent impact on the socio-spatial realm of fitness facilities and its users. The second portion of this thesis explores the values and elements of play while referring to various built precedents that physically and psychologically constitutes a playful environment in favour of reimagining the relationship between exercise and play. Finally, the third portion of this thesis introduces a speculative proposal located at Toronto’s Riverdale Park which redefines the contemporary act of exercise by providing an all-inclusive play-scape rather than imposing rigid exercises found at a gym. The proposed environment utilizes notions of play to penetrate an individual’s preconceived notions of fitness to provoke changes in understanding what it means to be healthy and fit, and reclaim the connection of the mind and body, to nature, to play, and to others

Design and Evaluation of a Knee-Extension-Assist

Quadriceps muscle weakness is a condition that can result from a wide variety of causes, from diseases like polio and multiple sclerosis to injuries of the head and spine. Individuals with weakened quadriceps often have difficulty supplying the knee-extension moments required during common mobility tasks. Existing powered orthoses that provide an assistive knee-extension moment are large and heavy, with power supplies that generally last less than two hours. A new device that provides a knee-extension-assist moment was designed to aid an individual with quadriceps muscle weakness to stand up from a seated position, sit from a standing position, and walk up and down an inclined surface. The knee-extension-assist (KEA) was designed as a modular component to be incorporated into existing knee-ankle-foot-orthoses (KAFO). The KEA consists of three springs that are compressed, as the knee is flexed under bodyweight, by cables that wrap around a sheave at the knee. The KEA returns the stored energy from knee flexion as an extension moment during knee extension. During swing or other non-weight bearing activities, the device is disengaged from the KAFO by decoupling the sheave from the KAFO knee joint, allowing free knee joint motion. A prototype was built and mechanically tested to determine KEA behaviour during loading and extension and to ensure proper KEA function. For biomechanical evaluation, able-bodied subjects used the prototype KEA while performing sit-to-stand, stand-to-sit, ramp ascent, and ramp descent tasks. The KEA facilitated sitting and standing, providing an average of 53 % of the required extension moment for the two participants, which allowed one participant to reduce quadriceps usage by 38 % and the other to perform sit-to-stand in a slower and more controlled manner that was not possible without the KEA. KEA use during ramp gait caused an overall increase in quadriceps activation by 76 %, on average, with use. Future efforts will be made to modify the design to improve functionality, especially for ramp gait, and to reduce device size and weight

Conference on Intelligent Robotics in Field, Factory, Service, and Space (CIRFFSS 1994), volume 1

The AIAA/NASA Conference on Intelligent Robotics in Field, Factory, Service, and Space (CIRFFSS '94) was originally proposed because of the strong belief that America's problems of global economic competitiveness and job creation and preservation can partly be solved by the use of intelligent robotics, which are also required for human space exploration missions. Individual sessions addressed nuclear industry, agile manufacturing, security/building monitoring, on-orbit applications, vision and sensing technologies, situated control and low-level control, robotic systems architecture, environmental restoration and waste management, robotic remanufacturing, and healthcare applications

The Body Experience

After a deadly disease sends a jaded college graduate to an isolation ward, a virtual technology provides all the escape she could dream of. When her life collides with an abused woman fleeing across the country, they both struggle to find each other before it is too late

Novel approaches for the safety of human-robot interaction

In recent years there has been a concerted effort to address many of the safety issues associated with physical human-robot interaction (pHRI). However, a number of challenges remain. For personal robots, and those intended to operate in unstructured environments, the problem of safety is compounded. We believe that the safety issue is a primary factor in wide scale adoption of personal robots, and until these issues are addressed, commercial enterprises will be unlikely to invest heavily in their development.In this thesis we argue that traditional system design techniques fail to capture the complexities associated with dynamic environments. This is based on a careful analysis of current design processes, which looks at how effectively they identify hazards that may arise in typical environments that a personal robot may be required to operate in. Based on this investigation, we show how the adoption of a hazard check list that highlights particular hazardous areas, can be used to improve current hazard analysis techniques.A novel safety-driven control system architecture is presented, which attempts to address many of the weaknesses identified with the present designs found in the literature. The new architecture design centres around safety, and the concept of a `safety policy' is introduced. These safety policies are shown to be an effective way of describing safety systems as a set of rules that dictate how the system should behave in potentially hazardous situations.A safety analysis methodology is introduced, which integrates both our hazard analysis technique and the implementation of the safety layer of our control system. This methodology builds on traditional functional hazard analysis, with the addition of processes aimed to improve the safety of personal robots. This is achieved with the use of a safety system, developed during the hazard analysis stage. This safety system, called the safety protection system, is initially used to verify that safety constraints, identified during hazard analysis, have been implemented appropriately. Subsequently it serves as a high-level safety enforcer, by governing the actions of the robot and preventing the control layer from performing unsafe operations.To demonstrate the effectiveness of the design, a series of experiments have been conducted using both simulation environments and physical hardware. These experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the safety-driven control system for performing tasks safely, while maintaining a high level of availability