scholarly journals Inertial-Robotic Motion Tracking in End-Effector-Based Rehabilitation Robots

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne Passon ◽  
Thomas Schauer ◽  
Thomas Seel
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Motion Tracking ◽  
Inertial Sensor ◽  
Ground Truth ◽  
Rehabilitation Robotics ◽  
Measurement Information ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Upper Arm ◽  
End Effector ◽  
Upper Limb Rehabilitation

End-effector-based robotic systems provide easy-to-set-up motion support in rehabilitation of stroke and spinal-cord-injured patients. However, measurement information is obtained only about the motion of the limb segments to which the systems are attached and not about the adjacent limb segments. We demonstrate in one particular experimental setup that this limitation can be overcome by augmenting an end-effector-based robot with a wearable inertial sensor. Most existing inertial motion tracking approaches rely on a homogeneous magnetic field and thus fail in indoor environments and near ferromagnetic materials and electronic devices. In contrast, we propose a magnetometer-free sensor fusion method. It uses a quaternion-based algorithm to track the heading of a limb segment in real time by combining the gyroscope and accelerometer readings with position measurements of one point along that segment. We apply this method to an upper-limb rehabilitation robotics use case in which the orientation and position of the forearm and elbow are known, and the orientation and position of the upper arm and shoulder are estimated by the proposed method using an inertial sensor worn on the upper arm. Experimental data from five healthy subjects who performed 282 proper executions of a typical rehabilitation motion and 163 executions with compensation motion are evaluated. Using a camera-based system as a ground truth, we demonstrate that the shoulder position and the elbow angle are tracked with median errors around 4 cm and 4°, respectively; and that undesirable compensatory shoulder movements, which were defined as shoulder displacements greater ±10 cm for more than 20% of a motion cycle, are detected and classified 100% correctly across all 445 performed motions. The results indicate that wearable inertial sensors and end-effector-based robots can be combined to provide means for effective rehabilitation therapy with likewise detailed and accurate motion tracking for performance assessment, real-time biofeedback and feedback control of robotic and neuroprosthetic motion support.

scholarly journals Design and Development of an Upper Limb Rehabilitative Robot with Dual Functionality

Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 870
Author(s):  
Md Rasedul Islam ◽  
Md Assad-Uz-Zaman ◽  
Brahim Brahmi ◽  
Yassine Bouteraa ◽  
Inga Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Upper Limb ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Human Robot Interaction ◽  
Control Technique ◽  
Upper Arm ◽  
Interaction Forces ◽  
End Effector ◽  
Upper Limb Rehabilitation ◽  
End Point ◽  
Limb Rehabilitation

The design of an upper limb rehabilitation robot for post-stroke patients is considered a benchmark problem regarding improving functionality and ensuring better human–robot interaction (HRI). Existing upper limb robots perform either joint-based exercises (exoskeleton-type functionality) or end-point exercises (end-effector-type functionality). Patients may need both kinds of exercises, depending on the type, level, and degree of impairments. This work focused on designing and developing a seven-degrees-of-freedom (DoFs) upper-limb rehabilitation exoskeleton called ‘u-Rob’ that functions as both exoskeleton and end-effector types device. Furthermore, HRI can be improved by monitoring the interaction forces between the robot and the wearer. Existing upper limb robots lack the ability to monitor interaction forces during passive rehabilitation exercises; measuring upper arm forces is also absent in the existing devices. This research work aimed to develop an innovative sensorized upper arm cuff to measure the wearer’s interaction forces in the upper arm. A PID control technique was implemented for both joint-based and end-point exercises. The experimental results validated both types of functionality of the developed robot.

scholarly journals RIANN—A Robust Neural Network Outperforms Attitude Estimation Filters

AI ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 444-463
Author(s):  
Daniel Weber ◽  
Clemens Gühmann ◽  
Thomas Seel
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Motion Tracking ◽  
Method Development ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Inertial Sensor ◽  
Ground Truth ◽  
Attitude Estimation ◽  
Human Motion ◽  
Ground Truth Data ◽  
The Individual

Inertial-sensor-based attitude estimation is a crucial technology in various applications, from human motion tracking to autonomous aerial and ground vehicles. Application scenarios differ in characteristics of the performed motion, presence of disturbances, and environmental conditions. Since state-of-the-art attitude estimators do not generalize well over these characteristics, their parameters must be tuned for the individual motion characteristics and circumstances. We propose RIANN, a ready-to-use, neural network-based, parameter-free, real-time-capable inertial attitude estimator, which generalizes well across different motion dynamics, environments, and sampling rates, without the need for application-specific adaptations. We gather six publicly available datasets of which we exploit two datasets for the method development and the training, and we use four datasets for evaluation of the trained estimator in three different test scenarios with varying practical relevance. Results show that RIANN outperforms state-of-the-art attitude estimation filters in the sense that it generalizes much better across a variety of motions and conditions in different applications, with different sensor hardware and different sampling frequencies. This is true even if the filters are tuned on each individual test dataset, whereas RIANN was trained on completely separate data and has never seen any of these test datasets. RIANN can be applied directly without adaptations or training and is therefore expected to enable plug-and-play solutions in numerous applications, especially when accuracy is crucial but no ground-truth data is available for tuning or when motion and disturbance characteristics are uncertain. We made RIANN publicly available.

scholarly journals Reference in-vitro dataset for inertial-sensor-to-bone alignment applied to the tibiofemoral joint

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ive Weygers ◽  
Manon Kok ◽  
Thomas Seel ◽  
Darshan Shah ◽  
Orçun Taylan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inertial Sensors ◽  
Inertial Sensor ◽  
Ground Truth ◽  
Transformation Matrices ◽  
True Model ◽  
Advance Research ◽  
Manual Palpation ◽  
Visualization Tools ◽  
Inertial Measurements

AbstractSkin-attached inertial sensors are increasingly used for kinematic analysis. However, their ability to measure outside-lab can only be exploited after correctly aligning the sensor axes with the underlying anatomical axes. Emerging model-based inertial-sensor-to-bone alignment methods relate inertial measurements with a model of the joint to overcome calibration movements and sensor placement assumptions. It is unclear how good such alignment methods can identify the anatomical axes. Any misalignment results in kinematic cross-talk errors, which makes model validation and the interpretation of the resulting kinematics measurements challenging. This study provides an anatomically correct ground-truth reference dataset from dynamic motions on a cadaver. In contrast with existing references, this enables a true model evaluation that overcomes influences from soft-tissue artifacts, orientation and manual palpation errors. This dataset comprises extensive dynamic movements that are recorded with multimodal measurements including trajectories of optical and virtual (via computed tomography) anatomical markers, reference kinematics, inertial measurements, transformation matrices and visualization tools. The dataset can be used either as a ground-truth reference or to advance research in inertial-sensor-to-bone-alignment.

scholarly journals Indoor Path-Planning Algorithm for UAV-Based Contact Inspection

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 642
Author(s):  
Luis Miguel González de Santos ◽  
Ernesto Frías Nores ◽  
Joaquín Martínez Sánchez ◽  
Higinio González Jorge
Keyword(s):  
Path Planning ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Execution Time ◽  
Point Cloud ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Calculation Algorithm ◽  
Time Restrictions ◽  
Planning Algorithm ◽  
Inspection Tasks ◽  
Path Planning Algorithm

Nowadays, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are extensively used for multiple purposes, such as infrastructure inspections or surveillance. This paper presents a real-time path planning algorithm in indoor environments designed to perform contact inspection tasks using UAVs. The only input used by this algorithm is the point cloud of the building where the UAV is going to navigate. The algorithm is divided into two main parts. The first one is the pre-processing algorithm that processes the point cloud, segmenting it into rooms and discretizing each room. The second part is the path planning algorithm that has to be executed in real time. In this way, all the computational load is in the first step, which is pre-processed, making the path calculation algorithm faster. The method has been tested in different buildings, measuring the execution time for different paths calculations. As can be seen in the results section, the developed algorithm is able to calculate a new path in 8–9 milliseconds. The developed algorithm fulfils the execution time restrictions, and it has proven to be reliable for route calculation.

scholarly journals Real-time 2D–3D door detection and state classification on a low-power device

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
João Gaspar Ramôa ◽  
Vasco Lopes ◽  
Luís A. Alexandre ◽  
S. Mogo
Keyword(s):  
Low Power ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Object Classification ◽  
Semantic Segmentation ◽  
Detection Algorithm ◽  
Power Device ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
State Classification ◽  
Segmentation Algorithms ◽  
Indoor Spaces

AbstractIn this paper, we propose three methods for door state classification with the goal to improve robot navigation in indoor spaces. These methods were also developed to be used in other areas and applications since they are not limited to door detection as other related works are. Our methods work offline, in low-powered computers as the Jetson Nano, in real-time with the ability to differentiate between open, closed and semi-open doors. We use the 3D object classification, PointNet, real-time semantic segmentation algorithms such as, FastFCN, FC-HarDNet, SegNet and BiSeNet, the object detection algorithm, DetectNet and 2D object classification networks, AlexNet and GoogleNet. We built a 3D and RGB door dataset with images from several indoor environments using a 3D Realsense camera D435. This dataset is freely available online. All methods are analysed taking into account their accuracy and the speed of the algorithm in a low powered computer. We conclude that it is possible to have a door classification algorithm running in real-time on a low-power device.

scholarly journals Finite-Horizon Kinetic Energy Optimization of a Redundant Space Manipulator

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 2346
Author(s):  
Alessandro Tringali ◽  
Silvio Cocuzza
Keyword(s):  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Inverse Kinematics ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Computational Time ◽  
Redundant Manipulators ◽  
Space Robotics ◽  
Optimal Method ◽  
End Effector ◽  
Global Optimal

The minimization of energy consumption is of the utmost importance in space robotics. For redundant manipulators tracking a desired end-effector trajectory, most of the proposed solutions are based on locally optimal inverse kinematics methods. On the one hand, these methods are suitable for real-time implementation; nevertheless, on the other hand, they often provide solutions quite far from the globally optimal one and, moreover, are prone to singularities. In this paper, a novel inverse kinematics method for redundant manipulators is presented, which overcomes the above mentioned issues and is suitable for real-time implementation. The proposed method is based on the optimization of the kinetic energy integral on a limited subset of future end-effector path points, making the manipulator joints to move in the direction of minimum kinetic energy. The proposed method is tested by simulation of a three degrees of freedom (DOF) planar manipulator in a number of test cases, and its performance is compared to the classical pseudoinverse solution and to a global optimal method. The proposed method outperforms the pseudoinverse-based one and proves to be able to avoid singularities. Furthermore, it provides a solution very close to the global optimal one with a much lower computational time, which is compatible for real-time implementation.

scholarly journals An Intelligent In-Shoe System for Gait Monitoring and Analysis with Optimized Sampling and Real-Time Visualization Capabilities

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 2869
Author(s):  
Jiaen Wu ◽  
Kiran Kuruvithadam ◽  
Alessandro Schaer ◽  
Richie Stoneham ◽  
George Chatzipirpiridis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Inertial Sensor ◽  
Neurological Diseases ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Sampling Frequency ◽  
Powerful Analytical Tool ◽  
Optical Motion ◽  
Analysis System ◽  
Optical Motion Capture ◽  
Gait Monitoring

The deterioration of gait can be used as a biomarker for ageing and neurological diseases. Continuous gait monitoring and analysis are essential for early deficit detection and personalized rehabilitation. The use of mobile and wearable inertial sensor systems for gait monitoring and analysis have been well explored with promising results in the literature. However, most of these studies focus on technologies for the assessment of gait characteristics, few of them have considered the data acquisition bandwidth of the sensing system. Inadequate sampling frequency will sacrifice signal fidelity, thus leading to an inaccurate estimation especially for spatial gait parameters. In this work, we developed an inertial sensor based in-shoe gait analysis system for real-time gait monitoring and investigated the optimal sampling frequency to capture all the information on walking patterns. An exploratory validation study was performed using an optical motion capture system on four healthy adult subjects, where each person underwent five walking sessions, giving a total of 20 sessions. Percentage mean absolute errors (MAE%) obtained in stride time, stride length, stride velocity, and cadence while walking were 1.19%, 1.68%, 2.08%, and 1.23%, respectively. In addition, an eigenanalysis based graphical descriptor from raw gait cycle signals was proposed as a new gait metric that can be quantified by principal component analysis to differentiate gait patterns, which has great potential to be used as a powerful analytical tool for gait disorder diagnostics.

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