Self-organized Locomotion Control with an Adaptive Compensator for Adaptation to Robot Leg Amputations

The 11th International Symposium on Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines. Kobe University, Japan. 2023-06-06/09. Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines Organizing Committee.Poster Session P6

A portable elbow exoskeleton for three stages of rehabilitation

Patients suffering from stroke need to undergo a standard and intensive rehabilitation therapy. The rehabilitation training consists of three sequential stages: the first stage is controlled joint movement under external actuator, the second stage deals with supporting the movements by providing assistive force, and the last stage provides variety and difficulty to exercises. Most of the exoskeletons developed so far for rehabilitation are restricted to a particular type of activity. Although a few exoskeletons incorporate different modes of rehabilitation, those are software controlled requiring sensory data acquisition and complex control architecture. To bridge this gap, a portable elbow exoskeleton has been developed for delivering three stages of rehabilitation in a single structure without affecting the range of motion and safety features. Use of electric motor and springs have been arranged in the actuation mechanism to minimize the energy consumption. The developed exoskeleton enhances torque to weight ratio compared to existing models, and all the three modes of rehabilitation have been controlled using a single motor

A review : a comprehensive review of soft and rigid wearable rehabilitation and assistive devices with a focus on the shoulder joint

The importance of the human upper limb role in performing daily life and personal activities is significant. Improper functioning of this organ due to neurological disorders or surgeries can greatly affect the daily activities performed by patients. This paper aims to comprehensively review soft and rigid wearable robotic devices provided for rehabilitation and assistance focusing on the shoulder joint. In the last two decades, many devices have been proposed in this regard, however, there have been a few groups whose devices have had effective therapeutic capability with acceptable clinical evidence. Also, there were not many portable, lightweight and user-friendly devices. Therefore, this comprehensive study could pave the way for achieving optimal future devices, given the growing need for these devices. According to the results, the most commonly used plan was Exoskeleton, the most commonly used actuators were electrical, and most devices were considered to be stationary and rigid. By doing these studies, the advantages and disadvantages of each method are also presented. The presented devices each have a new idea and attitude in a specific field to solve the problems of movement disorders and rehabilitation, which were in the form of prototypes, initial clinical studies and sometimes comprehensive clinical and commercial studies. These plans need more comprehensive clinical trials to become a complete and efficient plan. This article could be used by researchers to identify and evaluate the important features and strengths and weaknesses of the plans to lead to the presentation of more optimal plans in the future

Simulation of sensory integration dysfunction in autism with dynamic neural fields model

This paper applies dynamic neural fields model [1,23,7] to multimodal interaction of sensory cues obtained from a mobile robot, and shows the impact of different temporal aspects of the integration to the precision of movements. We speculate that temporally uncoordinated sensory integration might be a reason for the poor motor skills of patients with autism. Accordingly, we make a simulation of orientation behavior and suggest that the results can be generalized for grasping and other movements that are performed in three dimensional space. Our experiments show that impact of temporal aspects of sensory integration on the precision of movement are concordant with behavioral studies of sensory integration dysfunction and of autism. Our simulation and the robot experiment may suggest ideas for understanding and training the motor skills of patients with sensory integration dysfunction, and autistic patients in particular, and are aimed to help design of games for behavioral training of autistic children

Timing sensory integration for robot simulation of autistic behavior

The experiments in this paper show that the impact of temporal aspects of sensory integration on the precision of movement is concordant with behavioral studies of sensory integrative dysfunction and autism. Specifically, the simulation predicts that distant grasping will be performed properly by autistic people in general, except if it requires a combination of proximal and distant sensory information, as in the case of proximal obstacles. This aims to extend the integration model to robot simulation of autistic and nonautistic grasping behavior and to use it in games for behavioral training of autistic children

Using Rescue Robots to Increase Construction Site Safety

Abstract: Robotics technology is continuously gaining in importance in many applications. Especially mobile robots are already widely used in many fields including construction sites. Accidents in the construction industry have been identified as one of the most hazardous incidents compared to other work environments. We therefore propose to consider robotics technology to improve this situation. This paper introduces the idea of applying rescue robots as an accident prevention and first aid provision system at construction sites. In doing so, the mobility of the robot is a key issue. The paper presents a special robot, the rugbot, and a novel mechatronic component, a so-called flipper, which can be used to adapt the footprint of the robot. This allows the robot to negotiate a difficult environment as it can be found at construction sites