EAGER: Human Arm Impedance Modulation During Overground Physical Interactions

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A robot that physically interacts with humans in a human-like way may lead to impactful applications in healthcare and rehabilitation. However, little is known about how physical interactions can communicate goals and intent between partners. This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) project supports development of a mobile interactive robot that will support fundamental research into how humans may modulate arm impedance to communicate intent during partnered ambulation. By studying how a person walks alongside the interactive robot while holding its "hand", this research will add to our understanding of how humans communicate and sense cues pertaining to movement direction and speed. The new knowledge will lead to the development of safe, effective and interactive robots that can be deployed wherever a guiding hand is needed, such as in hospitals, nursing homes, in sports training, or on factory lines. As such, the results of this research will benefit the US healthcare, economy, and society. The project will involve an educational component that provides engineering and research methods training to graduate and undergraduate students, as well as STEM outreach to high-school and middle-school students. Additional efforts will be made to attract and retain underrepresented individuals into careers in science and engineering.This research develops a novel robot intended to communicate intent with a human partner through physical forces. Methods include device development, development of robotic control algorithms, and the interrogation of object impedance of stationary and moving objects. The implemented system will be validated through human subjects experimentation involving human arm impedance estimation during over-ground human/robot partnered walking.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.