PFI:BIC Affordable Flexible Robotic Technology to Enhance Work Performance of Farmers with Mobility Restrictions

不断增长的老年人口正在给农业带来危机。由于缺乏可用的替代解决方案，机器人技术可能成为一种受欢迎的方法，用于帮助农民和农业工人解决行动不便和力量不足的问题。该奖项利用跨学科的农业-工业合作伙伴关系，共同开发灵活的机器人系统，这些系统旨在供行动不便的农民佩戴，以帮助他们进行日常生活活动。研究团队的目标不仅是使最先进的灵活机器人技术适应行动不便的农民的需求，而且还教育利益相关者有关辅助技术的可用性和作用，以提高他们的工作表现并改善他们的生活质量。特别是，资助的工作包括以下几个方面的组合：1）技术开发，以采用开箱即用的灵活机器人技术，使其适合这一特定人群; 2）开发一个测试台，允许在典型的日常活动中进行技术测试; 3）协调服务提供系统，提供教育、基于健康的农业资源，以及以社区为基础的服务，解决农业工人和农业家庭的生活和农业目标。该研究小组的目的是展示灵活机器人的新用途，用于在农民和农场工人进行日常活动时照顾他们。研究人员将进一步了解可穿戴机器人（硬件和软件）的实际设计，这些机器人可以执行一系列任务，以促进农民的流动性并减少二次伤害的可能性。具体来说，研究人员将开发模块来支持背部，膝盖和手，并协助这些关节的运动。研究计划包括了解农民通常进行的运动和活动，设计舒适且与日常穿戴兼容的机器人模块;了解用户输入并调整控制算法，使机器人模块能够最好地协助穿戴者的移动性;在一些模块的结构中添加并研究柔性传感器和力传感器的影响。此外，该系统收集的运动信息将有助于创建一个数据驱动的健康监测系统，使医疗服务提供者能够了解患者的移动性如何随时间变化。 本科生将参与补充研究生工作，与客户农业社区的互动，以及旨在教育公众为残疾人提供创新辅助技术的地面活动。PFI的教育推广项目计划包括几个活动，如夏令营，高级设计顶点设计经验，并为工程和农业学生提供服务学习机会。牵头机构是弗吉尼亚理工大学，教师来自机械工程，农业领导，社区教育，工业和系统工程，工程教育和弗吉尼亚合作推广。 主要的工业合作伙伴是TORC Robotics（小企业，Blacksburg，VA）和Total Motion Physical Therapy（小企业，Blacksburg，VA）以及两个非营利性的更广泛的合作伙伴，AgrAbility Virginia（非营利性，Salem，VA）和Easter Seals UCP（United Cerebral Palsy，Salem，VA）。预计这种伙伴关系将在全国农业社区产生更广泛的影响，工程师，服务提供商和行业专业人士将合作帮助各自州的受伤或残疾农民。此外，弗吉尼亚农业能力将提供教育，评估和农民参与系统设计的手段。参与该项目的所有机构的协同作用将促进研究和教育成果向广大农民社区的转化。

A growing elderly population is creating a crisis in the farming industry. With the lack of alternative solutions available, robotics could become a welcomed approach for assisting farmers and farm workers with mobility limitations and strength deficits. This award leverages an interdisciplinary academe-industry partnership to jointly develop flexible robotic systems that are designed to be wear by farmers with mobility limitations to assist them in performing activities of daily living. The research team's goal is not only to adapt state-of-the-art flexible robotics technology to the needs of farmers with mobility limitations, but also to educate stakeholders regarding the availability and role of assistive technology to augment their performance at work and improve their quality of life. In particular, the funded effort consists of a combination of 1) technology development in order to take out-of-the-box flexible robotics technology and make it suitable to this particular population; 2) development of a test bed which will allow for technology testing in typical daily activities; 3) coordination of a service delivery system to provide education, health-based agricultural resources, and community-based services addressing life and farm-based goals of farm workers and farm families. The research team aims at demonstrating a new use of flexible robotics for the care of farmers and farm workers while performing their daily activities. The investigators will advance knowledge on the actual design of wearable robots (both hardware and software) that can perform a set of tasks to facilitate farmer's mobility and decrease the possibility of secondary injuries. Specifically, the researchers will develop modules to support the back, knee, and hand and assist with motion of these joints. The research plan includes understanding the motions and activities typically performed by farmers, designing the robotic modules to be comfortable and compatible with being worn daily; understanding the user inputs and adapting control algorithms that will enable the robotic modules to best assist with their wearers' mobility; add and study the impact of flex-sensors and force sensors into the structure of some modules. Additionally, motion information collected by the system will help create a data-driven health monitoring system whereby health service providers could understand how a patient's mobility is changing over time. Undergraduate students will be involved in supplementing graduate student work, in interactions with client farming communities, and in ground-level activities aimed at educating the public in innovative, assistive technologies for people with disabilities. The PFI project plan for educational outreach includes several activities such as summer camps, senior design capstone design experiences, and service learning opportunities for engineering and agriculture students.The lead institution is Virginia Tech with faculty from Mechanical Engineering, Agricultural Leadership, and Community Education, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Engineering Education and the Virginia Cooperative Extension. The primary industrial partners are TORC Robotics (small business, Blacksburg, VA), and Total Motion Physical Therapy (small business, Blacksburg, VA) together with two nonprofit broader context partners, AgrAbility Virginia (nonprofit, Salem, VA) and Easter Seals UCP (United Cerebral Palsy, Salem, VA). It is expected that this partnership will have broader impacts across the National AgrAbility community where engineers, service providers, and industry professionals collaborate to assist injured or disabled farmers in their respective states. In addition, AgrAbility Virginia will provide the means for education, evaluation, and farmer participation in the system design. The synergy of all the institutions involved in this project will facilitate the translation of research and education outcomes to the broad community of farmers.