Power-Up! Fuelling a new generation of assistive technologies

充电！

• 批准号: EP/N022971/1
• 负责人: Cathy Holloway
• 金额: $ 12.67万
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2016 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FN022971%2F1
• 关键词: Power; Up; Fuelling; new; generation

The aim of Power-Up! is to adapt an existing power add-on used by people who self-propel their wheelchairs so that it provides an optimal level of proportional assistance and incorporates fuel cell technology to drastically reduce the weight of the device. This will have considerable benefits both for those who self-propel and those currently pushed by a carer as it will increase a person's ability to push themselves, reducing the burden on carers and increasing the independence of wheelchairs users. The research idea has derived both from end-user demand and also technological advances in three areas: 1) The development of a light-weight force-sensing handrim for manual wheelchair users (the SenseWheel); 2) a model of proportional power assistance; 3) hybrid power source development incorporating a new low-cost, high-performance fuel cell technology. A key part of the project will be in determining requirements of the system from a technology (using a drive cycle method) and user-needs perspectives.The average wheelchair user is an overweight/obese 57 years old with a long-term health condition and dependent in some way on a carer [5]. There are seven million carers in the UK. Of those, 1.2 million carers have suffered a physical injury due to caring and over half have had to stop giving care due to mental and/or physical health complaints. Over 50% of carers are the spouse/partner of the person being cared for and 65% are themselves overweight or obese. It is clear that carers are struggling physically to care for wheelchair users [5]. At the other end of the spectrum are the 240,000 active wheelchair users who are busy getting on with their daily activities [2]; going to work, collecting their children from school, etc. With each push they further wear their shoulder and eventually, nearly all will have upper limb injuries, some so severe they will be unable to independently push themselves. Injuries are thought to arise in part to the cyclical nature of the wheelchair push cycle [6], [7] and are exasperated by the low gross mechanical efficiency of wheelchair pushing - only 10% of effort goes directly into making a person move forwards [8]and this is when pushing along flat, smooth surfaces such as hospital lino. On more challenging surfaces such as slopes, cross-slopes and rough or loose surfaces (e.g. gravel) the push forces will be much higher .To give an indication of scale of the problem: the incidence of shoulder pain is reported to range from 42% [9] to 66% [10], with the most commonly reported injury damage to the rotator cuff muscles [11]. The overall workflow is given in Figure 1. The initial work package will use the tools developed in current ARCCS project (EP/L023849/11 Dr. Holloway is Co-I) and further improve these to automatically produce probes to help understand user needs. The results from WP1 will help inform the specific tasks to be conducted at the PAMELA facility as well as the outdoor route. The recently invented SenseWheel will be used to measure the biomechanics of pushing during WP3. These will inform the shoulder forces which are occurring as people push their wheelchair with a power-assist device.In tandem we will collect the power consumption of the commercially available SmartDrive wheel, using a bespoke set of sensors. WP3 will be used to construct drive cycles of everyday journeys, which have been undertaken in WP1. Furthermore, the process of using micro-trips will be validated by comparing the actual power consumption during an outside route and the one predicted by the PAMELA micro-trips. The results of WP2 will be used to inform the specification of the new hybrid fuel cell system (WP3) and the proportional control system (WP4). The final design will be trialled at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The project is supported by the London Legacy Development Corporation as well as being closely linked to a PhD studentship,which is already awarded and will overlap with this grant.

Power-Up的目的！是调整自行推进轮椅的人使用的现有动力附加装置，以便提供最佳水平的比例辅助，并采用燃料电池技术来大幅减轻设备的重量。这将对那些自我推进的人和目前由护理人员推动的人都有相当大的好处，因为它将增加一个人推动自己的能力，减轻护理人员的负担，并增加轮椅使用者的独立性。该研究的想法来源于最终用户的需求以及三个领域的技术进步：1）开发用于手动轮椅使用者的轻质力感应手柄（SenseWheel）; 2）比例动力辅助模型; 3）混合动力源开发，采用新的低成本，高性能燃料电池技术。该项目的一个关键部分将是从技术（使用驱动循环方法）和用户需求的角度确定系统的要求。轮椅使用者的平均年龄为57岁，超重/肥胖，长期健康状况不佳，并在某种程度上依赖护理人员[5]。英国有700万名护理人员。其中，120万名护理人员因护理而受到身体伤害，超过一半的人因精神和/或身体健康问题而不得不停止提供护理。超过50%的照顾者是被照顾者的配偶/伴侣，65%的人本身超重或肥胖。很明显，护理人员在照顾轮椅使用者方面正在努力[5]。在另一端的频谱是240，000活跃的轮椅使用者，他们忙碌于他们的日常活动[2];去上班，从学校接他们的孩子，等等。随着每一次推动，他们进一步磨损他们的肩膀，最终，几乎所有人都会有上肢受伤，有些人如此严重，他们将无法独立推动自己。受伤被认为部分是由于轮椅推动循环的周期性[6]，[7]，并且由于轮椅推动的低总机械效率而加剧-只有10%的努力直接用于使人向前移动[8]，并且这是当沿着沿着平坦光滑的表面（如医院的亚麻布）推动时。在更具挑战性的表面上，如斜坡，横坡和粗糙或松散的表面（如砾石），推力会高得多。为了给问题的规模指示：肩痛的发生率据报道范围从42% [9]到66% [10]，最常见的是肩袖肌肉损伤[11]。图1给出了整个工作流程。初始工作包将使用当前ARCCS项目（EP/L023849/11，霍洛威博士是Co-I）中开发的工具，并进一步改进这些工具，以自动生产探头，帮助了解用户需求。WP 1的结果将有助于为PAMELA设施以及室外路线的具体任务提供信息。最近发明的SenseWheel将用于测量WP 3期间推动的生物力学。这些将告知人们在使用助力装置推动轮椅时发生的肩部力。同时，我们将使用一组定制的传感器收集市售SmartDrive车轮的功耗。WP 3将用于构建WP 1中已进行的日常行程的驾驶循环。此外，将通过比较外部路线期间的实际功耗和PAMELA微行程预测的功耗来验证使用微行程的过程。WP 2的结果将用于通知新的混合燃料电池系统（WP 3）和比例控制系统（WP 4）的规格。最终设计将在伊丽莎白女王奥林匹克公园进行试验。该项目得到了伦敦遗产发展公司的支持，并与博士生奖学金密切相关，该奖学金已经获得，并将与该赠款重叠。

项目成果

Electro-thermal mapping of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells with a fractal flow-field

• DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2021.114924
• 发表时间: 2021-12
• 期刊: Energy Conversion and Management
• 影响因子: 10.4
• 作者: V. S. Bethapudi;J. Hack;G. Hinds;P. Shearing;D. Brett;M. Coppens

Localised electrochemical impedance measurements of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell using a reference electrode array to give cathode-specific measurements and examine membrane hydration dynamics

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.02.022
• 发表时间: 2018-04
• 期刊: Journal of Power Sources
• 影响因子: 9.2
• 作者: Erik Engebretsen;G. Hinds;Q. Meyer;T. Mason;E. Brightman;L. Castanheira;P. Shearing;D. Brett

The effect of non-uniform compression and flow-field arrangements on membrane electrode assemblies - X-ray computed tomography characterisation and effective parameter determination

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2019.04.018
• 发表时间: 2019-06
• 期刊: Journal of Power Sources
• 影响因子: 9.2
• 作者: N. Kulkarni;M. Kok;R. Jervis;F. Iacoviello;Q. Meyer;P. Shearing;D. Brett

Oxygen evolution catalysts under proton exchange membrane conditions in a conventional three electrode cell vs. electrolyser device: a comparison study and a 3D-printed electrolyser for academic labs

• DOI: 10.1039/d1ta00633a
• 发表时间: 2021-03
• 期刊: Journal of Materials Chemistry A
• 影响因子: 11.9
• 作者: M. P. Browne;J. Dodwell;F. Novotný;Sonia Jaskaniec;P. Shearing;V. Nicolosi;D. Brett;M. Pumera

A lung-inspired printed circuit board polymer electrolyte fuel cell

• DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2019.112198
• 发表时间: 2019-12-15
• 期刊: ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT
• 影响因子: 10.4
• 作者: Bethapudi, V. S.;Hack, J.;Coppens, M. -O.
• 通讯作者: Coppens, M. -O.