force and motion capture system based on distributed micro accelerometers gyros force and tactile sensing

Motion capture is a powerful tool used in a large range of applications towards human movement analysis. Although it is a well-established technique, its main limitation is the lack of dynamic information such as forces and torques during the motion capture. In this paper, we present a novel approach for human wearable dynamic (WearDY) motion capture for the simultaneous estimation of whole-body forces along with the motion. Our conceptual framework encompasses traditional passive markers based methods, inertial and contact force sensor modalities and harnesses a probabilistic computa- tional framework for estimating dynamic quantities originally proposed in the domain of humanoid robot control. We present experimental analysis of our framework on subjects performing a two degrees-of-freedom bowing task and we estimate the motion and dynamic quantities. The results demonstrate the validity of the proposed method. We discuss the implications of our proposal towards the design of a novel wearable force and motion capture suit and its applications

Genomic Analysis of Sleeping Beauty Transposon Integration in Human Somatic Cells

The Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon is a non-viral integrating vector system with proven efficacy for gene transfer and functional genomics. However, integration efficiency is negatively affected by the length of the transposon. To optimize the SB transposon machinery, the inverted repeats and the transposase gene underwent several modifications, resulting in the generation of the hyperactive SB100X transposase and of the high-capacity \u2018\u2018sandwich\u2019\u2019 (SA) transposon. In this study, we report a side-by-side comparison of the SA and the widely used T2 arrangement of transposon vectors carrying increasing DNA cargoes, up to 18 kb. Clonal analysis of SA integrants in human epithelial cells and in immortalized keratinocytes demonstrates stability and integrity of the transposon independently from the cargo size and copy number-dependent expression of the cargo cassette. A genome-wide analysis of unambiguously mapped SA integrations in keratinocytes showed an almost random distribution, with an overrepresentation in repetitive elements (satellite, LINE and small RNAs) compared to a library representing insertions of the first-generation transposon vector and to gammaretroviral and lentiviral libraries. The SA transposon/SB100X integrating system therefore shows important features as a system for delivering large gene constructs for gene therapy application

Evaluation of PAEXO, a novel passive exoskeleton for overhead work

International audienc

Online Non-Collocated Estimation of Payload and Articular Stress for Real-Time Human Ergonomy Assessment

Improving the quality of work for human beings is receiving a lot of attention from multiple research communities. In particular, digital transformation in human factors and ergonomics is going to empower the next generation of the socio-technical workforce. The use of wearable sensors, collaborative robots, and exoskeletons, coupled with novel technologies for the real-time assessment of human ergonomy forms the crux of this digital transformation. In this direction, this paper focuses on the open problem of estimating the interaction wrench experienced at the human extremities (such as hands), where the feasibility of direct sensor measurements is not practical. We refer to our approach as non-collocated wrench estimation, as we aim to estimate the wrench at known contact locations but without using any direct force-torque sensor measurements at these known locations. We achieve this by extending the formulation of stochastic inverse dynamics for humans by considering a centroidal dynamics constraint to perform a reliable non-collocated estimation of interaction wrench and the joint torques (articular stress) experienced as a direct consequence of the interaction. Our approach of non-collocated estimation is thoroughly validated in terms of payload estimation and articular stress estimation through validation and experimental scenarios involving dynamic human motions like walking

The CoDyCo Project achievements and beyond: Towards Human Aware Whole-body Controllers for Physical Human Robot Interaction

International audienceThe success of robots in real-world environments is largely dependent on their ability to interact with both humans and said environment. The FP7 EU project CoDyCo focused on the latter of these two challenges by exploiting both rigid and compliant contacts dynamics in the robot control problem. Regarding the former, to properly manage interaction dynamics on the robot control side, an estimation of the human behaviours and intentions is necessary. In this paper we present the building blocks of such a human-in-the-loop controller, and validate them in both simulation and on the iCub humanoid robot using a human-robot interaction scenario. In this scenario, a human assists the robot in standing up from being seated on a bench