Development of an assistive soft exoskeleton : a multistakeholder endeavour

Background As in other areas, digitalization and new technologies become increasingly relevant for physiotherapy. However, often these developments are driven by technological feasibility rather than by clinical demand. In order to grant maximum acceptability and effective implementation of a technology multiple stakeholders i.e. engineers, patients and therapists need to collaborate throughout the planning and development processes. Here, we describe the design and development of three prototype-generations of a soft and modular exoskeleton. Purpose Development of a soft and modular exoskeleton, which incorporates the needs and requirements of future users. Methods Nine research groups including therapists, designers and engineers from seven European countries were involved in this project. As stakeholders we considered patients with gait limitations due to stroke, incomplete spinal cord injury or age-related weakness (primary end-users, PU), therapists with professional experience in the area of the PU’s conditions and non-professional carers (secondary end-users, SU). The perspectives of PU and SU were incorporated into the technical concepts adopting a user-centered design approach. The initial prototype was designed according to the requirements, which were derived from use-cases representing the target populations. Evaluations of all prototypes were performed using semi-structured interviews with both, PU and SU. Functions of the respective prototypes were evaluated with a predefined testing protocol. The conclusions of the evaluations were fed back to the engineers and informed the development of the consecutive prototypes. All data collection procedures were approved by the local ethics committee and participants provided written informed consent. Results In total eight PU and eight SU were recruited. In general, the prototypes were in an early stage of development and the operation required staff with engineering knowledge and an experimental laboratory. In general, PU and SU rated the technology positively. The individually analyzed data from the interviews and functionality tests revealed heterogeneous results indicating the diversity of the PU’s functional impairments and expectations of PU and SU. Conclusions Based on this project’s experience, we are convinced that future PU and SU of a technology must be involved in the development from the very beginning. However, in order to obtain adequate feedback, the choice of individuals (PU and SU) and the level of involvement must be considered carefully. For example, inadequate expectations may draw the attention to irrelevant issues. In our project, research physiotherapists played a key role by bridging PU and SU with engineers. This information exchange was partially challenging because of different areas of interest, different terminology and geographical distance. Implications A common understanding of the project goals among the project teams and adherence to timelines are essential for successful progress such a large project. The project should assure that all stakeholders can acquire basic knowledge and perspectives of the other involved stakeholders, especially from other disciplines. Specifically for physiotherapists, basic and continuing education should incorporate technological knowledge from engineering disciplines in order to enable physiotherapists to contribute to the development of new devices. This opens the chance to participate in the development of technology for clinical applications. Funding acknowledgements This work has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 688175 (XoSoft)

Business plan for electrip Diy -a Diy solution for camper van electrics

This work project proposes a business planfor Electrip DIY, an innovative Do it yourself solution for Camper Van Electrics, whose service is to configurate a personalized DIY electronic installation kit utilizing affiliate marketing and the Amazon Partner Net. A founding strategy is developed based on the analysis of the DIY camper industry, potential customers ,and direct and indirect competitors in order to successfully position Electrip on the market. A thorough strategy for the first five years of operation is developed, while certain potential restrictions that might affect the firm are considered

Formale Organisation und Engagement im Verein

Aktive Mitgliedschaft und ehrenamtliches Engagement sind wichtige Ressourcen für die Funktionsund Entwicklungsfähigkeit von Vereinen und Verbänden. Das gilt sowohl für Organisationen, die sich zugunsten Dritter und für gesellschaftliche Anliegen einsetzen, als auch für Vereinigungen im Kultur-, Sport- und Freizeitbereich. Letztere stehen in dieser Untersuchung im Mittelpunkt der Betrachtung. Die Organisationsstruktur, also der Grad an Formalisierung, Standardisierung, Spezialisierung und Zentralisierung in der Planung und Durchführung von Projekten und anderen Vereinsaktivitäten, spielt dabei eine wesentliche Rolle. Eine Befragung von über 500 Mitgliedern aus sechs Landesorganisationen von Mensa International (Deutschland, Schweiz, Serbien, Ungarn, Kanada und Südafrika) zeigt, dass die Bereitschaft zum Engagement vom individuellen Commitment und von der Erfahrung abhängt, sich durch die Aktivität persönlich weiterentwickelt zu haben. Mitglieder machen solche Erfahrungen eher, wenn der Grad der Organisationsstruktur deutlich spürbar ist. Das eröffnet konkrete Gestaltungsperspektiven für das Vereinsmanagement

Integrating the AUTOSAR tool chain with Eclipse based model transformations

International audienceAUTOSAR is establishing itself as a prominent standard in automotive systems and is expected to significantly improve software architecture and the software development processes. However, the introduction of AUTOSAR also poses some challenges

Perspektiven zur Kombination von automatischem Animationsdesign und planbasierter Hilfe

Aktuelle Themen auf dem Gebiet der intelligenten Benutzerschnittstellen behandeln derzeit die automatische Planung multimodaler Präsentationen. Hierbei stand bisher im wesentlichen die koordinierte Generierung von Text und Graphik im Vordergrund. In Zukunft wird hier aufgrund der Komplexität der zu präsentierenden Information zunehmend auch die Einbeziehung realistischer animierter 3D-Graphiken gefordert sein. Einen anderen wichtigen Forschungsschwerpunkt bildet der Einsatz graphischer Ausgabekomponenten für planbasierte Hilfesysteme. Die vorliegende Arbeit hat zum Ziel zunächst einen Überblick über den derzeitigen Stand der Forschung in diesen beiden Bereichen zu geben, als auch neue Anforderungen an die automatische Animationsgenerierung und an Systeme zur planbasierten graphischen Hilfe zu formulieren. Anschließend wollen wir, basierend auf Ergebnissen und Erfahrungen aus WIP und PLUS, Perspektiven für eine mögliche Weiterentwicklung und Integration von Techniken der Animationsplanung und graphischen Hilfe präsentieren

VALIDATION OF AN IMU-SYSTEM (GAIT-UP) TO IDENTIFY GAIT PARAMETERS IN NORMAL AND INDUCED LIMPING WALKING CONDITIONS

The purpose of this study was to investigate an IMU system (GaitUp) with respect to validity in normal and induced impaired walking by comparing with a state-of-the-art 3D motion capture system. The gait of nine participants was analysed collecting data simultaneously with the GaitUp (Physiolog) placed at each foot and an eight camera motion capture system (Vicon) at 200 Hz each. Participants walked in normal and induced limping (elevation of one shoe) conditions at three walking speeds. For all conditions the two systems yielded similar results regarding the standard gait parameters (gait cycle time, stride length, stride frequency and gait velocity) according to absolute differences and correlation coefficients. GaitUp gathers fairly valid and reliable data in normal and limping walking in a range of walking speed between 0.9 and 2.0 m/s