Non-verbal communications such as kinesthetics, or body language and posture are important codes used to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships. They can also be utilized for safe and efficient human robot interactions. A correct interpretation of the human activity through the analysis of certain spatio-temporal and dynamic parameters represent an outstanding benefit for the quality of human machine communication in general. This paper presents an effective markerless motion capture system provided by a mobile robot for sensing human activity, in non-invasive fashion. We present a physical model based method exploiting the embedded Kinect. Its performances are evaluated first comparing the results to those obtained with a precise 3D motion capture marker based system and to data obtained from a dynamic posturography platform. Then an experiment in real life conditions is performed to assess the system sensitivity to some gait disturbances.

The analysis of certain parameters related to cognitive and to motor humans’ activities in everyday life conditions can allow to detect potential behavioral troubles, make diagnoses and assess patients’ progress after a therapy. Within this context, personal robots can provide an autonomous movable platform for embedded sensors allowing to detect and track humans while ensuring an optimal observability of the person’s activity in complex and cluttered environments. This paper presents a framework combining a multimodal human detector based on sensors embedded in a mobile robot and a decisional engine exploiting the fuzzy logic mechanisms to make the robot track humans, maximizing observability and facing losses of detection. The robustness of this framework is evaluated experimentally in home spaces through different scenarios. Such a mobile system provides an effective marker-less motion capture means for sensing human activity in non-invasive fashion. We present a physical model based method exploiting the features of the system and of the embedded Kinect. Its performances are evaluated first comparing the results to those obtained with a precise 3D motion capture marker based system and to data obtained from a dynamic posturography platform. Then an experiment in real life conditions is performed to assess the system sensitivity to some gait disturbances.

Assistive ambulatory devices are used for gait rehabilitation and assistance. In both cases, their benefit is greater when they are used properly. As for canes, embedded sensors can be used for monitoring purposes. In this paper, a custom tactile handle equipping a cane is described. It is composed of cost-effective commercially available pressure sensors. Experimental results involving 10 subjects show that the developed handle can provide information on the cane orientation as well as on the load applied to it during assisted gait. These data can help monitoring the cane usage and misuses detection.

Assistance to walking is a key point in improving autonomy during daily living activities of elderly and disabled people. Despite the significant number of active robotized walkers and canes proposed in the literature, only few studies focused on the mechanical influence of assistive devices on the gait generation process. A deeper analysis of assisted walking dynamics is very likely to help improving the design and the adequacy of the robotized assistants. In this paper a simulation framework of impaired and cane assisted gaits is developed. Simulations of common passive cane assistance allow a deeper analysis of its contributions to the locomotion. The behaviour of an active cane and its beneficial impact on the energetics of impaired gaits are exposed.

Population ageing calls for innovative solutions to increase daily living autonomy. Since people autonomy relies on their mobility capabilities, several robotized walking aids i.e. walkers and canes, mainly including navigation functions, have been developed. The existing robotized canes generally consist in statically stable mobile platforms equipped with a rod and a handle. This design alters the basic characteristics of original canes i.e. their weight-lightness and compactness. In this paper, a one-wheel telescopic active cane closer to the original cane concept is presented. Its control law and synchronization with the walking cycle is also given along with experimental results.