NRI: FND: Soft Wearable Robots for Injury Prevention and Performance Augmentation

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Musculoskeletal disorders are a leading cause of injury among workers who are exposed to physical workloads, with overexertion in lifting causing over one-third of these injuries. Every year approximately $56 billion is lost due to lift related injuries. The emerging technologies of exoskeletons hold promising potential to reduce biomechanical loads, thereby preventing worker injury. The obstacles to widespread adoption of this technology, however, arise from discomfort due to excessive weight, restricted range of motion, and high-pressure concentration. This project seeks to explore a new design for wearable robots as ubiquitous co-robots to address these challenges. The proposed bio-inspired, soft, back-support exoskeletons will provide joint moment assistance, while being lightweight and unobtrusive. Our soft back-support exoskeleton consists of 1) a soft exoskeleton that is lightweight as its design architecture (bio-inspired, cable-driven mechanism) and actuation (high-torque density actuators) overcome the limitations of rigid exoskeletons (heavy, limit range of motion) and textile-based soft exosuits (medium weight, exert high pressure concentration on tissue); and 2) wearable sensors and its on-site estimation algorithms of biological joint moment to characterize and prevent injuries. The proposed exoskeleton presents a promising solution in assisting injury prevention and performance augmentation. In terms of its societal impact, it will improve the quality of life and work as well as address the social and economic impact of robots on our workers. Thus, it will have a direct massive gain to the economy, health, and welfare of our society.The goal of this project is to explore new research and design of soft wearable collaborative robots to minimize injuries of workers prone to fatigue and musculoskeletal disorders. The project will focus on 1) designing bio-inspired soft back-support exoskeletons which are hybrid wearable robots that combine the advantages of rigid exoskeletons and soft exosuits while minimizing their respective limitations; 2) exploring on-site estimation algorithms using wearable sensors to characterize the biological joint moments to detect fatigue onset; and 3) evaluating the performance of the exoskeletons and its effectiveness for injury prevention. The contributions of this research entail both engineering innovations including new design methodology and enabling technologies for soft robots, as well as scientific foundation and tools to understand human-robot interaction and biomechanics. 1) Advances in robotics. Soft exoskeleton design architecture will enable a new type of wearable robot design that is comfortable, powerful, and versatile. High torque density actuators will significantly reduce the weight and increase the transparency of exoskeletons. 2) Understanding of human-robot interaction. The investigation into lifting biomechanics and assistive control strategy will shed light on human-robot interactions and improve human and robot performances.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.