Adapting to the Human Body: Shape-Adaptive Attachment for Parallel Wearable Robots Using Jamming

适应人体：使用干扰的并行可穿戴机器人的形状自适应附件

• 批准号: 2240508
• 负责人: Haohan Zhang
• 金额: $ 42.5万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-04-01 至 2026-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2240508&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Adapting; Human; Body; Shape; Adaptive

Wearable robots like exoskeletons have been developed to restore movements for individuals with mobility limitations. These robots are attached to the user’s body and transmit assistive forces through physical attachments (i.e., belts and cuffs). However, current belts and cuffs cannot fully conform to the body or adapt to changes in body shapes (e.g., muscle atrophy). As a result, the assistive force is unevenly distributed, causing discomfort or even soft-tissue damage. The challenge of using belts and cuffs as the attachments is more profound in wearable robots where multiple parallel chains of linkages (i.e., parallel mechanisms) are used to connect the body attachments. The deformation of the cuffs and belts causes model errors, limiting robot performance and introducing risks of injuries. To address these challenges, this project will develop a new attachment system for parallel wearable robots to better conform to the user’s body and adapt to the body shape changes without compromising the model accuracy. This project offers an exciting opportunity to involve persons with mobility limitations (e.g., head drop, amputee) in research, fostered by close collaborations with medical professionals at the University of Utah Hospital. The project will provide convergence training to engineering students to also become experts in healthcare. Trainees will shadow physicians in a multidisciplinary clinic and conduct interviews with patients and their caregivers to learn the needs of persons with mobility limitations. Workshops will be organized at conferences to disseminate knowledge and raise awareness of research for persons with mobility limitations.The overall objective is to develop a new strategy to attach wearable robots on the human body to improve comfort, adapt to body shape changes, and ensure accuracy. To attain this overall objective, jamming structures will be embedded within the design of the attachments to conform to the body shape when soft, and maintain that shape when hardened, by manipulating the internal pressure of the jamming structures. The specific knowledge products will include: (1) a design methodology for jamming embedded attachments; (2) a dataset to demonstrate jamming embedded attachment for body shape adaptation as a result of a disability (e.g., head drop in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis); and (3) a delineation of longitudinal user-robot interaction using jamming embedded attachments. The knowledge gained from this research is also expected to generalize to other biomedical devices (e.g., prostheses, orthoses, braces) and applications that use wearable devices (e.g., construction, manufacturing). This work challenges the conventional design paradigm for parallel wearable robots, emphasizing both the body and the machine. Therefore, the project forms a roadmap for future research at the intersection of engineering and long-term patient care.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.

像外骨骼这样的可穿戴机器人已经被开发出来，用于恢复行动受限的个人的运动。这些机器人附着在用户的身体上，并通过物理附着（即，腰带和袖口）。然而，目前的带和袖口不能完全符合身体或适应身体形状的变化（例如，肌肉萎缩）。结果，辅助力分布不均匀，导致不适甚至软组织损伤。使用皮带和袖口作为附件的挑战在可穿戴机器人中更加深刻，其中多个平行的连杆链（即，平行机构）用于连接主体附件。袖口和皮带的变形会导致模型错误，限制机器人性能并带来受伤风险。为了应对这些挑战，本项目将为并联可穿戴机器人开发一种新的附着系统，以更好地符合用户的身体，并适应身体形状的变化，而不会影响模型的准确性。该项目提供了一个令人兴奋的机会，让行动不便的人（例如，头部下垂，截肢者）在研究中，通过与犹他州大学医院的医疗专业人员密切合作促进。该项目将为工程专业的学生提供融合培训，使他们也成为医疗保健方面的专家。受训人员将在多学科诊所跟随医生，并与病人及其护理人员进行面谈，以了解行动不便者的需求。在会议期间举办讲习班，传播知识，提高对行动不便者研究的认识。总的目标是开发一种新的战略，将可穿戴机器人附着在人体上，以提高舒适度，适应体型变化，并确保准确性。为了实现这个总体目标，通过操纵卡紧结构的内部压力，卡紧结构将嵌入附件的设计中，以在柔软时符合身体形状，并且在硬化时保持该形状。具体的知识产品将包括：（1）干扰嵌入式附件的设计方法;（2）演示由于残疾而干扰嵌入式附件以适应体型的数据集（例如，肌萎缩性侧索硬化症中的头部下降）;以及（3）使用卡住嵌入式附件的纵向用户-机器人交互的描绘。从这项研究中获得的知识也有望推广到其他生物医学设备（例如，假体、矫形器、支架）和使用可穿戴设备的应用（例如，制造业）。这项工作挑战了并行可穿戴机器人的传统设计范式，强调身体和机器。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。