The Development of a 3D Imaging and Classification System for Exoskeleton Systems

 描述（由申请人提供）：创新设计实验室（IDL）与芝加哥康复研究所（RIC）和Ekso Bionics合作，提议为外骨骼系统创建3D成像和分类系统。最近的研究发现，有386万美国人需要轮椅，而且这个数字每年以平均每年5.9%的速度增长。虽然轮椅提供了自由，使使用者能够独立并减少对他人的依赖，但使用轮椅在身体或情感上并不等同于步行，而且往往被认为限制了社区参与，从而加剧了社会孤立。机器人外骨骼/仿生服有可能使这些人能够站立和行走，从而提供一种使这些人更充分地重新融入社会的方法。我们的提案旨在解决现有的障碍之一，即系统在不平坦地形的预期中感知和适应自身的能力，从而阻止在家庭和社区中可靠地使用外骨骼。通过使用3D成像，所提出的系统旨在为外骨骼的控制系统提供所需的信息以连续地确定前方环境的特征，例如地形倾斜角和潜在危险，从而允许外骨骼具有相应地调整其运动学特性或通知用户进一步向前移动是不安全或不可实现的能力。拟议的工作将显著改变当前外骨骼的工作方式，促进其进入市场，从而直接影响残疾人的生活。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Innovative Design Labs (IDL), in collaboration with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) and Ekso Bionics, proposes to create a 3D Imaging and Classification System for Exoskeleton Systems. Recent research has found that 3.86 million Americans require wheelchairs and the number has been increasing annually by an average annual rate of 5.9% per year. While wheelchairs provide freedom, allowing users to be independent as well as reducing dependence upon others, wheelchair use is not physically or emotionally equivalent to walking and is often thought to limit community participation and thus exacerbate social isolation. Robotic exoskeletons/bionic suits have the potential to enable these individuals to stand up and walk, thus providing a way to more fully reintegrate these individuals into society. Our proposal seeks to address one of the existing hurdles preventing reliable use of exoskeleton in the home and community, namely, the ability of the system to sense and adapt itself in anticipation of uneven terrain. Through the use of 3D imaging, the proposed system aims to provide an exoskeleton's control system the required information to continuously determine features of the environment ahead such as terrain inclination angle and potential hazards thereby allowing the exoskeleton the ability to adjust its kinematics properties accordingly or notify the user that further forward movement is unsafe or unachievable. The proposed work will significantly change the way current exoskeletons work, facilitating their adoption into the market, and thus directly impacting the lives of individuals with disabilities.