Collaborative Research: A Novel User Interface for Operating an Assistive Robot Arm in Unstructured Environments

协作研究：用于在非结构化环境中操作辅助机器人手臂的新颖用户界面

• 批准号: 0649736
• 负责人: Aman Behal
• 金额: $ 32.53万
• 依托单位: The University of Central Florida Board of Trustees
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-07-01 至 2011-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0649736&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Novel; User; Interface

In this project the PIs will design, develop, and clinically test a vision-based user interface for enhancing the efficacy of wheelchair mounted assistive robot arms in unstructured environments. The target population is wheelchair bound individuals with limited upper extremity movement, such as patients diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, ALS, Poliomyelitis, Multiple Sclerosis, Spinal Cord Injury, Muscular Dystrophy, and similar conditions that affect use of the upper limbs. The goal is to allow these people to function independently with comfort and speed in a variety of unstructured environments such as a grocery store, a living room, or an office. The innovation in this project that sets it apart from existing approaches is the segregation of robot motion into gross and fine components instead of unnatural joint or Cartesian motion as is currently the norm. To transform their bold vision into reality, the PIs will: develop a gross motion human-robot interface utilizing computer vision techniques and the human in the loop; utilize computer image processing algorithms for implementing a real-time robust feature identifier that is able to suggest to the user areas of interest, using computer vision techniques to segment by color, depth and other criteria; effect fine motion of the robot end-effector to facilitate pick-and-place tasks via fusion of geometric ideas from vision and adaptive control; develop a working prototype through unification of HRI, sensing, and control algorithms; and demonstrate benchmark activities of daily living tasks for wheelchair bound individuals with upper extremity impairments by tapping into the human resources available at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital located in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. Broader Impacts: The design of an enhanced functionality wheelchair robot will be a major leap toward rehabilitation of a broad segment of society whose members otherwise have only limited access to resources and opportunity. The PIs expect their approach to be directly relevant to any mobile device with on-board vision and where one can take advantage of the human in the loop, and thus to provide a new model of human-robot interaction for assistive technology. Interaction methods developed will be adaptable to a wide range of access devices, ranging from single switch scanning to sip-and-puff to a joystick. Moreover, the PIs expect that the fusion of vision and nonlinear control demonstrated in this project will advance the theory and applicability of computer vision and visual servoing.

在这个项目中，pi将设计、开发和临床测试一个基于视觉的用户界面，以增强在非结构化环境中安装在轮椅上的辅助机器人手臂的功效。目标人群是坐轮椅的上肢运动受限的个体，如被诊断为脑瘫、ALS、脊髓灰质炎、多发性硬化症、脊髓损伤、肌肉萎缩症和影响上肢使用的类似疾病的患者。我们的目标是让这些人在各种非结构化的环境中，如杂货店、客厅或办公室，舒适而快速地独立工作。这个项目的创新之处在于，它将机器人的运动分离为粗细两部分，而不是像目前的标准那样，非自然的关节或笛卡尔运动。为了将他们大胆的愿景变为现实，pi将：利用计算机视觉技术和人在回路中开发一个粗大运动人机界面；利用计算机图像处理算法实现实时鲁棒特征标识符，能够向用户建议感兴趣的领域，使用计算机视觉技术按颜色，深度和其他标准进行分割；融合视觉和自适应控制的几何思想，实现机器人末端执行器的精细运动，以方便拾取任务；通过统一HRI、传感和控制算法开发工作原型；并通过利用位于宾夕法尼亚州利哈伊山谷的好牧羊人康复医院的人力资源，为坐轮椅的上肢障碍者演示日常生活任务的基准活动。更广泛的影响：一个增强功能的轮椅机器人的设计将是一个重大的飞跃，对社会的一个广泛的部分，否则只能获得有限的资源和机会的成员康复。pi希望他们的方法直接与任何具有机载视觉的移动设备相关，并且可以利用人类在循环中的优势，从而为辅助技术提供一种新的人机交互模型。开发的交互方法将适用于广泛的访问设备，从单开关扫描到吸吸到操纵杆。此外，pi期望该项目所展示的视觉与非线性控制的融合将推进计算机视觉和视觉伺服的理论和应用。