RII Track-4: EASE - Functional Electrical Stimulation and Mechanical Actuation of Soft Exoskeletons

软材料机器人被认为是机器人的未来，它结合了物联网（IoT）、可穿戴传感器、材料科学和人工智能的概念，制造出可以帮助人类并与人类合作的机器人。这一领域对机器人专家和工程师特别感兴趣，因为它具有多个基本挑战，并且在农业，灾难机器人和辅助康复等领域的应用中有巨大的好处。该项目将使亚拉巴马大学的研究人员能够通过与匹兹堡大学的研究人员合作，提高他们开发下一代由机械神经肌肉致动器刺激的软材料外骨骼（外骨骼）的能力。机械和电动驱动的软机器护甲被设想对辅助机器人、康复机器人和老年护理领域产生影响。这项研究将导致机械神经肌肉驱动的软可穿戴机器人的设计和控制原理的发展，从而大大提高生活和降低康复成本的个人谁遭受瘫痪，中风和脊髓损伤。该研究的应用性质将在吸引学生到STEM领域，包括计算机科学，电气工程，机械工程和生物医学工程中发挥重要作用。技术说明拟议的项目将结合学习与研究，开发复合纤维增强软外套的设计方法和控制原理。 这些运动服将机电致动（电机肌腱）与肌肉的功能性电刺激（FES）相结合，以通过辅助和康复提供轻松的运动。这项研究将推进亚拉巴马大学（UA）的康复研究，通过适应柔性机构和复合材料领域的软结构的原则，开发电机肌腱驱动的软外套的设计方法。由此产生的多层软材料复合机器护甲，具有增强纤维，将解决机电致动器特有的应力集中和分布问题。这将包括解决锚定点应力集中和组件之间的致动器力的有效传递。将开发非线性控制器，以将机电和神经肌肉驱动集成在软机器护甲中，以实现轻松的运动。拟议的研究将有助于理解软耐磨材料的设计原理，这些材料很坚韧建模，以及它们的行为和/或相互作用如何随接触环境而变化。此外，该研究将有助于开发下一代机械神经肌肉致动器的致动技术。这项研究将为机械神经肌肉致动器提供混合控制原理，为可穿戴软机器人提供更低的刚度。鉴于UA的医疗资源和跨学科教师，该提案将有助于亚拉巴马州可穿戴机器人和康复研究计划的能力建设。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Non-Technical DescriptionSoft material robotics is envisioned to be the future of robotics that combines the concepts of the Internet of Things (IoTs), wearable sensors, material science and artificial intelligence to fabricate robots that can assist and collaborate with humans. This field is of special interest to roboticists and engineers as it has multiple fundamental challenges and there are tremendous benefits for applications to fields such as agriculture, disaster robotics to assistive rehabilitation. This project will enable researchers from the University of Alabama to enhance their capabilities to develop next-generation soft material exoskeletons (exosuits) stimulated by mechano-neuromuscular actuators through a collaboration with researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. Mechanically and electrically actuated soft exosuits are envisioned to have an impact on the fields of assistive robotics, rehabilitation robotics, and elder care. The research will result in the development of design and control principles for mechano-neuromuscular actuated soft wearable exosuits, thus greatly enhancing life and reducing rehabilitation cost for individuals who suffer from paralysis, stroke, and spinal cord injuries. The applied nature of this research will play an instrumental role in attracting students to STEM fields that include computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering.Technical DescriptionThe proposed project will integrate learning with research to develop design methodologies and control principles for composite fiber-reinforced soft exosuits. These exosuits will integrate electro-mechanical actuation (motor-tendons) with the functional electrical stimulation (FES) of muscles to provide ease of movement by assistance and rehabilitation. This research will advance the University of Alabama's (UA) rehabilitation research through the development of design methodologies for motor-tendon driven soft exosuits by adapting principles from fields of compliant mechanisms and composite materials for soft structures. The resulting multi-layer soft material composite exosuits, with reinforced fibers, will address stress concentration and distribution problems specific to electromechanical actuators. This will include addressing anchor-point stress concentration and efficient transfer of actuator forces between components. Nonlinear controllers will be developed to integrate electromechanical and neuromuscular actuation in soft exosuits to effect ease of movement. The proposed research will contribute towards the understanding of design principles for soft wearable materials, which are tough to model, and how their behavior and/or interaction varies with the environment of contact. Furthermore, the research will contribute towards the development of next-generation actuation technologies for mechano-neuromuscular actuators. The research will result in hybrid control principles for mechano-neuromuscular actuators that provide wearable soft exosuits with less stiffness. Given the medical resources and interdisciplinary faculty at UA, this proposal will help in building capacity for a wearable robotics and rehabilitation research program in the state of Alabama.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.