Bio-inspired Exoskeletons and Safety in Human-Exoskeleton Cooperation

人类运动的自然模式取决于神经系统、肌肉和骨骼之间的相互作用。这些因素中的任何一个出现问题-可能是由于医疗条件、疾病或受伤-都可能导致行动受限。在这种情况下，人们可以遵循物理治疗程序来恢复运动能力的损失或变化。目前，机器人和外骨骼被用于物理治疗，以帮助个人恢复到以前的功能水平，并帮助他们进行日常生活活动（ADL）。然而，这些机器人和外骨骼不与人体解剖关节对齐，这可能导致用户不适或受伤，并影响康复治疗的成功。在这个研究项目中，在日常生活活动中的人类关节运动将被研究，记录，并使用视频运动捕捉数据和肌肉骨骼计算机模拟分析。分析的人体运动模式将用于启发生物外骨骼的设计，这些外骨骼能够模仿人体运动中涉及的复杂3D运动。然后将开发的生物启发外骨骼与旨在模仿人类关节的传统外骨骼进行比较。比较研究的结果将有助于推进生物外骨骼的设计和利用方面的知识，以改善医疗，工业和军事应用中人类外骨骼系统之间的协同作用。为了激励新一代和STEM教育，研究结果还将通过出版物、在威奇托探索之地科学博物馆举办的展览以及大学赞助的K-12学生夏令营与公众分享。此外，在大学一级，该小组将把拟议工作的研究成果纳入本科生和研究生课程，以激励学生进行系统的研究，并通过实施基于项目的学习（PBL）来减少辅助设备的概念学习障碍本项目的目的是研究人体关节运动参数之间的相关模型外骨骼与人体的适配和对准以实现有效的人-外骨骼协作。 传统上，外骨骼经设计以通过将每一人类关节指派有等效外骨骼关节（例如，手肘的铰链关节）而与人类关节运动轴对准，所述等效外骨骼关节假设可准确地知道轴的位置，且针对关节或关节组的运动范围存在此固定轴。 不幸的是，情况并非总是如此。关节的复合运动使得其与外骨骼的对准更困难，且未对准可在所附接系统及底层人类解剖结构上产生大应力，从而产生对允许独立于解剖测量及界标的复杂3D运动的新颖外骨骼设计策略的需要。 为了满足这一需求，研究计划分为四项任务。 第一个任务是在执行所需肢体轨迹的同时收集人体关节运动（手和手臂）中涉及的关节运动参数。 传统的运动捕捉系统（MoCap）将与移动的MoCap系统组合，该系统使用传感器来获得惯性测量，该惯性测量被无线地传送到移动的数据记录器，例如，智能手机 所组装的数据库将提供1）关于潜在的人类肢体运动的基本知识和2）识别和选择用于所需任务的功能性肢体运动的技术。第二个任务是使用肌肉骨骼软件应用程序分析，建模和模拟人体关节运动中涉及的参数。 将使用OpenSim Scale Model工具缩放手臂、手腕和手部肌肉骨骼模型的参数，以最佳拟合实验测量的受试者质量和标记位置。 模拟提供1）在执行期望运动期间的肌肉力相互作用和关节反作用力，以及2）用于识别未对准和拟合挑战的来源的工具。第三个任务是基于与人类肢体的期望轨迹相关的相关人类关节参数来研究生物启发的外骨骼。 这项任务将提供：1）基于运动捕获数据的人体肢体工作空间的几何和代数洞察\表示，以及2）机构拓扑及其拓扑图的图谱，以接近人体肢体工作空间的几何图案。第四个任务是原型化并研究参数与外骨骼拟合和对准之间的相关性。 生物启发的原型将使用增材制造工艺制造，然后集成电子元件进行实时控制和反馈。 受生物启发的外骨骼将与研究人员先前开发的基于3自由度关节的外骨骼进行比较。 外骨骼将安装在轮椅上，并用于对上肢活动减少的人进行人体受试者测试，所进行的ADL将提供数据集，例如轨迹路径，EMG信号，FMG读数以及使用两种不同外骨骼机制的有效性和比较分析。收集的数据将用于1）独立地开发两种外骨骼的相关模型，以及2）评估每种外骨骼设计的干预（基于生物启发方法的任务型方法和基于关节对关节的设计方法）。该项目由残疾和康复工程（DARE）计划和刺激竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）联合资助该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The natural patterns of human movement depend on interactions between the nervous system, muscles and skeleton. A problem with any of these elements--perhaps due to medical conditions, illnesses or injuries--can lead to movement limitations. In such cases, people may follow physical therapy procedures to recover the loss or change in movement ability. Currently, robots and exoskeletons are used in physical therapy to help individuals return to their prior level of functioning and to assist them to do activities-of-daily living (ADL). However, these robots and exoskeletons do not align with the human anatomical joints, which can result in discomfort or injury to the user and affect the success of the rehabilitation therapy. In this research project, human joint motions during ADL will be studied, recorded, and analyzed using video motion capture data and musculoskeletal computer simulations. The analyzed human motion patterns will be used to inspire the design of bio-exoskeletons that are capable of mimicking the complex 3D motions involved in human movement. The bio-inspired exoskeletons developed will then be compared to the traditional exoskeletons designed to mimic a human joint. The outcome of the comparison study will help to advance the knowledge in the design and utilization of bio-exoskeletons for the improved synergy between the human-exoskeleton systems in medical, industrial, and military applications. To inspire the new generation and STEM education, findings will also be shared with the public via publication, exhibitions at the Exploration Place science museum in Wichita, and university sponsored summer camps for K-12 students. Additionally, at the university level, the team will integrate research findings from the proposed work into the undergraduate and graduate courses to motivate students to perform systematic research and to reduce conceptual learning barriers of assistive devices through the implementation of Project-Based-Learning (PBL) approaches in the classroom.The objective of this project is to investigate a correlation model between parameters involved in human joint movements in the fitting and alignment of exoskeletons to a human body for an effective human-exoskeleton cooperation. Traditionally, exoskeletons are designed to align with the human joint axes of motion by assigning each human joint with an equivalent exoskeleton joint (e.g. a hinge joint for the elbow) that assumes that the location of the axis can be accurately known, and that such a fixed axis exists for the range of motion of the joint or set of joints. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. The compound motion of joints makes their alignment with an exoskeleton more difficult and misalignment can create large stresses on the attached systems and underlying human anatomy, giving rise to the need for novel exoskeleton design strategies that permit the complex 3D motions independent of anatomical measures and landmarks. To address this need, the Research Plan is organized under four tasks. The FIRST Task is to collect joint movement parameters involved in human joint movements (hand and arm) while performing desired limb trajectories. Conventional motion capture systems (MoCap) will be combined with a mobile MoCap system that uses sensors to obtain inertial measurements that are communicated wirelessly to a mobile data logger, e.g., a smartphone. The data base assembled will provide 1) fundamental knowledge on the underlying human limb motion and 2) techniques to identify and select functional limb motion for a desired task. The SECOND Task is to analyze, model, and simulate the parameters involved in human joint movements using a musculoskeletal software application. The parameters of an arm, wrist, and hand musculoskeletal model will be scaled using the OpenSim Scale Model tool to best fit the experimentally measured subject mass and marker positions. The simulations provide 1) muscle force interaction and joint reaction forces during the execution of the desired motions and 2) a tool for the identification of sources for misalignment and fitting challenges. The THIRD Task is to investigate bio-inspired exoskeletons based on the related human joint parameters related to the desired trajectory of the human limb. This task will provide: 1) geometrical and algebraic insight\representation of the human limb workspace based on the motion captured data and 2) an atlas of mechanism topologies and their workspaces to closely approximate the geometrical pattern of the human limb workspace. The FOURTH Task is to prototypes and investigate the correlation between parameters and exoskeleton fitting and alignments. A bio-inspired prototype will be fabricated using an additive manufacturing process followed by integration of electronic components for real-time control and feedback. The bio-inspired exoskeletons will be compared to a 3 DOF joint-based exoskeleton previously developed by the investigators. The exoskeletons will be mounted on a wheelchair and be used in human subject testing on persons with reduced upper limb mobility, and the ADL performed will provide datasets such as trajectory path, EMG signals, FMG readings, and effectiveness and comparative analysis using the two different exoskeleton mechanisms. Data collected will be used to 1) develop a correlation model for the two exoskeletons independently and 2) to assess the intervention of each of the exoskeleton designs (the task-based approach based on the bioinspired method and joint-to-joint alignment-based design approaches).This project is jointly funded by the Disabilities and Rehabilitation Engineering (DARE) program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.