On the use of adaptable compliant actuators in prosthetics, rehabilitation and assistive robotics

These days, biomimetic and compliant actuators have been made available to the main applications of rehabilitation and assistive robotics. In this context, the interaction control of soft robots, mechatronic surgical instruments and robotic prostheses can be improved through the adoption of pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs), a class of compliant actuators that exhibit some similarities with the structure and function of biological muscles. Together with the advantage of implementing adaptive compliance control laws, the nonlinear and hysteretic force/length characteristics of PAMs pose some challenges in the design and implementation of tracking control strategies. This paper presents a parsimonious and accurate model of the asymmetric hysteresis observed in the force response of PAMs. The model has been validated through the experimental identification of the mechanical response of a small-sized PAM where the asymmetric effects of hysteresis are more evident. Both the experimental results and a comparison with other dynamic friction models show that the proposed model could be useful to implement efficient compensation strategies for the tracking control of soft robots.

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Socially Assistive Robotics combined with Artificial Intelligence for ADHD

2021 IEEE 18th Annual Consumer Communications & Networking Conference (CCNC) ◽

10.1109/ccnc49032.2021.9369633 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Federica Amato ◽

Marianna Di Gregorio ◽

Clara Monaco ◽

Monica Sebillo ◽

Genoveffa Tortora ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Artificial Intelligence ◽

Assistive Robotics ◽

Socially Assistive Robotics

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A Survey on Socially Assistive Robotics: Clinicians’ and Patients’ Perception of a Social Robot within Gait Rehabilitation Therapies

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11060738 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 738

Author(s):

Denniss Raigoso ◽

Nathalia Céspedes ◽

Carlos A. Cifuentes ◽

Antonio J. del-Ama ◽

Marcela Múnera

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Social Robot ◽

Assistive Robotics ◽

Gait Rehabilitation ◽

Unified Theory ◽

Positive Perception ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Socially Assistive Robotics ◽

Use Of Technology ◽

The Social

A growing interest in Socially Assistive Robotics in Physical Rehabilitation is currently observed; some of the benefits highlight the capability of a social robot to support and assist rehabilitation procedures. This paper presents a perception study that aimed to evaluate clinicians’ and patients’ perception of a social robot that will be integrated as part of Lokomat therapy. A total of 88 participants were surveyed, employing an online questionnaire based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The participants belong to two health care institutions located in different countries (Colombia and Spain). The results showed an overall positive perception of the social robot (>60% of participants have a positive acceptance). Furthermore, a difference depending on the nature of the user (clinician vs. patient) was found.

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Can a humanoid social robot stimulate the interactivity of cognitively impaired elderly? A thorough study based on computer vision methods

The Visual Computer ◽

10.1007/s00371-021-02242-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gauri Tulsulkar ◽

Nidhi Mishra ◽

Nadia Magnenat Thalmann ◽

Hwee Er Lim ◽

Mei Ping Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Computer Vision ◽

Psychosocial Support ◽

Well Being ◽

The Elderly ◽

Social Robots ◽

Assistive Robotics ◽

Cognitively Impaired ◽

Assistive Robots ◽

Institutional Review ◽

Human Need

AbstractSocial Assistive Robotics is increasingly being used in care settings to provide psychosocial support and interventions for the elderly with cognitive impairments. Most of these social robots have provided timely stimuli to the elderly at home and in care centres, including keeping them active and boosting their mood. However, previous investigations have registered shortcomings in these robots, particularly in their ability to satisfy an essential human need: the need for companionship. Reports show that the elderly tend to lose interests in these social robots after the initial excitement as the novelty wears out and the monotonous familiarity becomes all too familiar. This paper presents our research facilitating conversations between a social humanoid robot, Nadine, and cognitively impaired elderly at a nursing home. We analysed the effectiveness of human–humanoid interactions between our robot and 14 elderly over 29 sessions. We used both objective tools (based on computer vision methods) and subjective tools (based on observational scales) to evaluate the recorded videos. Our findings showed that our subjects engaged positively with Nadine, suggesting that their interaction with the robot could improve their well-being by compensating for some of their emotional, cognitive, and psychosocial deficiencies. We detected emotions associated with cognitively impaired elderly during these interactions. This study could help understand the expectations of the elderly and the current limitations of Social Assistive Robots. Our research is aligned with all the ethical recommendations by the NTU Institutional Review Board.

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Control of Vibration Using Compliant Actuators

Journal of Vibration and Acoustics ◽

10.1115/1.4036499 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 139 (5) ◽

Author(s):

Sannia Mareta ◽

Dunant Halim ◽

Atanas A. Popov

Keyword(s):

Vibration Control ◽

Active Control ◽

Passive Control ◽

Performance Comparison ◽

Control Performance ◽

Frequency Bandwidth ◽

Series Configuration ◽

Compliant Actuators ◽

Stiffness And Damping ◽

Compliant Actuator

This work proposes a method for controlling vibration using compliant-based actuators. The compliant actuator combines a conventional actuator with elastic elements in a series configuration. The benefits of compliant actuators for vibration control applications, demonstrated in this work, are twofold: (i) vibration reduction over a wide frequency bandwidth by passive control means and (ii) improvement of vibration control performance when active control is applied using the compliant actuator. The vibration control performance is compared with the control performance achieved using the well-known vibration absorber and conventional rigid actuator systems. The performance comparison showed that the compliant actuator provided a better flexibility in achieving vibration control over a certain frequency bandwidth. The passive and active control characteristics of the compliant actuator are investigated, which shows that the control performance is highly dependent on the compliant stiffness parameter. The active control characteristics are analyzed by using the proportional-derivative (PD) control strategy which demonstrated the capability of effectively changing the respective effective stiffness and damping of the system. These attractive dual passive–active control characteristics are therefore advantageous for achieving an effective vibration control system, particularly for controlling the vibration over a specific wide frequency bandwidth.

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Understanding social interactions with socially assistive robotics in intergenerational family groups

2017 26th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN) ◽

10.1109/roman.2017.8172308 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Elaine Schaertl Short ◽

Katelyn Swift-Spong ◽

Hyunju Shim ◽

Kristi M. Wisniewski ◽

Deanah Kim Zak ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Interactions ◽

Assistive Robotics ◽

Socially Assistive Robotics ◽

Family Groups

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Design issues for assistive robotics for the elderly

Advanced Engineering Informatics ◽

10.1016/j.aei.2005.10.003 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 171-186 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

Q. Meng ◽

M.H. Lee

Keyword(s):

The Elderly ◽

Assistive Robotics ◽

Design Issues

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Mechatronic Design of a Mobile Robot for Personal Assistance

10.1115/detc2021-70389 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Luigi Tagliavini ◽

Andrea Botta ◽

Luca Carbonari ◽

Giuseppe Quaglia ◽

Dario Gandini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mobile Robot ◽

Home Environment ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Assistive Robotics ◽

Personal Assistance ◽

Differential Drive ◽

Electrical Systems ◽

Moving Obstacles ◽

Design Paradigm ◽

Axisymmetric Shape

Abstract In this paper, a novel mobile platform for assistive robotics tasks is presented. The machine is designed for working in a home environment, un-structured and possibly occupied by people. To work in this space, the platform must be able to get rid of all the consequent difficulties: to overpass small objects as steps and carpets, to operate with an as-high-as-possible dynamics, to avoid moving obstacles, and to navigate autonomously to track persons for person monitoring purposes. The proposed platform is designed to have an omni-directional mobility that improves the manoeuvrability with respect to state-of-the-art differential drive robots. It also will have a non-axisymmetric shape to easily navigate narrow spaces, and real-time edge computing algorithms for navigation. This work shows the design paradigm adopted for the realization of a novel mobile robot, named Paquitop. For a robust output, the design process used a modular approach which disjointed the several sub-systems which compose the machine. After a brief analysis of the expected features, a set of basic requirements are drawn to guide the functional and executive design. The overall architecture of the platform is presented, together with some details on the mechanical and electrical systems.

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