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

像外骨骼这样的可穿戴机器人已经被开发出来，以恢复行动不便的个人的运动。这些机器人附着在使用者的身体上，并通过物理附件(即皮带和袖口)传递辅助力。然而，目前的腰带和袖口不能完全适应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，造成不适甚至软组织损伤。在可穿戴机器人中，使用皮带和袖口作为附件的挑战更为深远，因为在可穿戴机器人中，使用多个平行连杆机构(即并行机构)来连接身体附件。袖口和腰带的变形会导致模型错误，限制机器人的性能，并带来受伤的风险。为了应对这些挑战，该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，并在不影响模型精度的情况下适应身体形状的变化。这个项目提供了一个令人兴奋的机会，让行动不便的人(例如，低头、截肢者)参与研究，这是通过与犹他大学医院的医疗专业人员密切合作培养出来的。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。学员将在一家多学科诊所跟踪医生，并与患者及其照顾者进行面谈，以了解行动不便的人的需求。将在会议上组织研讨会，为行动不便的人传播知识和提高研究意识。总体目标是开发一种新的战略，将可穿戴机器人安装在人体上，以提高舒适性，适应身体形状的变化，并确保准确性。为了实现这一总体目标，通过操纵阻塞结构的内部压力，将阻塞结构嵌入附件的设计中，以使其在柔软时符合身体形状，并在硬化时保持该形状。具体的知识产品将包括：(1)用于阻塞嵌入附件的设计方法；(2)用于演示由于残疾(例如，肌萎缩侧索硬化症的头部下垂)导致的身体形状适应的阻塞嵌入附件的数据集；以及(3)使用阻塞嵌入附件来描绘纵向用户-机器人交互的描述。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(如假肢、矫形器、支架)和使用可穿戴设备的应用(如建筑、制造)。这项工作挑战了并行可穿戴机器人的传统设计范式，同时强调了身体和机器。因此，该项目形成了工程学和长期患者护理相结合的未来研究的路线图。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.