RII Track-4: EASE - Functional Electrical Stimulation and Mechanical Actuation of Soft Exoskeletons

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Non-Technical DescriptionSoft material robotics is envisioned to be the future of robotics that combines the concepts of the Internet of Things (IoTs), wearable sensors, material science and artificial intelligence to fabricate robots that can assist and collaborate with humans. This field is of special interest to roboticists and engineers as it has multiple fundamental challenges and there are tremendous benefits for applications to fields such as agriculture, disaster robotics to assistive rehabilitation. This project will enable researchers from the University of Alabama to enhance their capabilities to develop next-generation soft material exoskeletons (exosuits) stimulated by mechano-neuromuscular actuators through a collaboration with researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. Mechanically and electrically actuated soft exosuits are envisioned to have an impact on the fields of assistive robotics, rehabilitation robotics, and elder care. The research will result in the development of design and control principles for mechano-neuromuscular actuated soft wearable exosuits, thus greatly enhancing life and reducing rehabilitation cost for individuals who suffer from paralysis, stroke, and spinal cord injuries. The applied nature of this research will play an instrumental role in attracting students to STEM fields that include computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering.Technical DescriptionThe proposed project will integrate learning with research to develop design methodologies and control principles for composite fiber-reinforced soft exosuits. These exosuits will integrate electro-mechanical actuation (motor-tendons) with the functional electrical stimulation (FES) of muscles to provide ease of movement by assistance and rehabilitation. This research will advance the University of Alabama's (UA) rehabilitation research through the development of design methodologies for motor-tendon driven soft exosuits by adapting principles from fields of compliant mechanisms and composite materials for soft structures. The resulting multi-layer soft material composite exosuits, with reinforced fibers, will address stress concentration and distribution problems specific to electromechanical actuators. This will include addressing anchor-point stress concentration and efficient transfer of actuator forces between components. Nonlinear controllers will be developed to integrate electromechanical and neuromuscular actuation in soft exosuits to effect ease of movement. The proposed research will contribute towards the understanding of design principles for soft wearable materials, which are tough to model, and how their behavior and/or interaction varies with the environment of contact. Furthermore, the research will contribute towards the development of next-generation actuation technologies for mechano-neuromuscular actuators. The research will result in hybrid control principles for mechano-neuromuscular actuators that provide wearable soft exosuits with less stiffness. Given the medical resources and interdisciplinary faculty at UA, this proposal will help in building capacity for a wearable robotics and rehabilitation research program in the state of Alabama.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.