Suggestion of new concept for mobility assistive system based on wheelchair platform with gait assistive function controlled by artificial pneumatic muscle

A 3D Computer Vision-Guided Robotic Companion for Non-Contact Human Assistance and Rehabilitation

With the rapid aging of the U.S. population, the mobility impairment is becoming a more and more challenging issue that affects a large number of individuals. The research presented in this paper aims at helping the mobility-challenged individuals with a novel robotic companion, which is a walker-type mobile robot capable of accompanying the human user and keeping user at the center for protection and possible power assistance. The robotic companion is equipped with a 3D computer vision system, which provides a unique capability of sensing the human-robot relative position/orientation without physical contact or the need for wearable sensors. As such, the robotic companion enables the user to walk freely with minimum disturbance to his/her normal gait, relieving the user from the physical and cognitive loads associated with the use of traditional assistive devices. For the development of the robotic companion, the authors designed and fabricated a low-cost, differentially steered mobile robotic platform, and also developed a unique image processing system to extract the position/orientation information from the 3D camera-captured images. Furthermore, an advanced motion control system was developed for the robotic companion, which provides novel solutions to the unique challenges such as sway reduction and noise reduction in digital differentiation. To quantify the performance, component and system-level experimentation was conducted, and the results demonstrated that robotic companion and its key components function as desired and the system is expected to reduce the user load and improve the user mobility in real-world scenarios.

A Human-assistive Robotic Platform with Quadrupedal Locomotion

Mobility impairment is becoming a challenging issue around the world with a rapid increase on aging population. Existing tools of walking assistance for mobility-impaired people include passive canes or wheeled rollators which increase energy consumption on the users and disturb the users' walking rhythm, and powered wheeled chairs which could preclude the muscle activities and accelerate the degeneration of the lower limbs. The research in this paper aiming at helping mobility-impaired people proposes a novel robotic platform with quadrupedal locomotion. With motorized actuation, the quadruped robotic platform could accompany the user at the center and provide protection and possible walking assistance if needed. As the robotic platform is equipped with a leg locomotion, it can enlarge the user's activity environments, such as both indoor flat floor and outdoor uneven terrain. It can even assist the user to involve in some mobility challenging activities, such as climbing stairs. In this paper, we illustrate the mechanical design of the robotic platform. A continuous gait planning is proposed to create a smooth locomotion for the robot. To quantify the performance, a system-level walking experimentation was conducted, and the results showed that quadruped robotic platform can maintain a statically stability which demonstrate the feasibility and capability of the robotic application for walking assistance.