Rigid, Soft, Passive, and Active: A Hybrid Occupational Exoskeleton for Bimanual Multijoint Assistance

Missiroli, Francesco; Lotti, Nicola; Tricomi, Enrica; Bokranz, Casimir; Alicea, Ryan; Xiloyannis, Michele; Krzywinski, Jens; Crea, Simona; Vitiello, Nicola; Masia, Lorenzo

doi:10.1109/lra.2022.3142447

Cited by 28 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In conjunction with FES, an exosuit controlled through the MCE could be more effective in restoring motor function in the presence of chronic neuromuscular diseases. Future steps will test the presented approach in exosuit control both in clinical and industrial settings [16].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comprehensive Framework for the Modelling of Cartesian Force Output in Human Limbs

Sierotowicz¹,

Lotti²,

Rupp³

et al. 2022

2022 International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR)

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Neuromuscular functional electrical stimulation represents a valid technique for functional rehabilitation or, in the form of a neuroprosthesis, for the assistance of neurological patients. However, the selected stimulation of single muscles through surface electrodes remains challenging particularly for the upper extremity. In this paper, we present the MyoCeption, a comprehensive setup, which enables intuitive modeling of the user's musculoskeletal system, as well as proportional stimulation of the muscles with 16-bit resolution through up to 10 channels. The system can be used to provide open-loop force control, which, if coupled with an adequate body tracking system, can be used to implement an impedance control where the control loop is closed around the body posture. The system is completely self-contained and can be used in a wide array of scenarios, from rehabilitation to VR to teleoperation. Here, the MyoCeption's control environment has been experimentally validated through comparison with a third-party simulation suite. The results indicate that the musculoskeletal model used for the MyoCeption provides muscle geometries that are qualitatively similar to those computed in the baseline model.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comprehensive Framework for the Modelling of Cartesian Force Output in Human Limbs

Sierotowicz¹,

Lotti²,

Rupp³

et al. 2022

2022 International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR)

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The results presented earlier enable us to characterize many aspects of the presented setup, as well as to draw a few tentative conclusions on the overall effectiveness of the presented setup. Although many solutions involving passive or semi-passive exoskeletons have been presented in the literature in the past ( Grazi et al, 2020 ; SuitX, 2021 ; Missiroli et al, 2022 ), intention-based control concepts for such systems are rarely investigated. The main hypothesis of this study is that an intention-based support level selector, used in real time, can effectively reduce the correlation of muscular effort to lifted mass by adjusting the torque and therefore the forces acting onto the user.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These are some aspects which should be addressed by future research. The main goal of future work on this sort of device should focus on generalizing the estimation of the lifted mass to various kinds of grasp, and on the inclusion of posture data in the estimation of the needed assistance, as shown in Missiroli et al (2022) .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An intention-based control system, able to actively set the level of support online without the need for the user to manually input the desired level of assistance, on the other hand, could allow the designers to provide their exoskeletons with higher output torques. In Missiroli et al (2022) , a concept is presented where the level of assistance in a tendon-based system is determined based on the angle of the arm with respect to the body. Although the system presented there did not automatically change the level of assistance provided to the shoulder joint, but rather only the assistive torque exerted on the elbow, keeping the user’s posture into account would definitely enable the controller to adapt the provided assistance in a natural fashion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Unobtrusive, natural support control of an adaptive industrial exoskeleton using force myography

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Repetitive or tiring tasks and movements during manual work can lead to serious musculoskeletal disorders and, consequently, to monetary damage for both the worker and the employer. Among the most common of these tasks is overhead working while operating a heavy tool, such as drilling, painting, and decorating. In such scenarios, it is desirable to provide adaptive support in order to take some of the load off the shoulder joint as needed. However, even to this day, hardly any viable approaches have been tested, which could enable the user to control such assistive devices naturally and in real time. Here, we present and assess the adaptive Paexo Shoulder exoskeleton, an unobtrusive device explicitly designed for this kind of industrial scenario, which can provide a variable amount of support to the shoulders and arms of a user engaged in overhead work. The adaptive Paexo Shoulder exoskeleton is controlled through machine learning applied to force myography. The controller is able to determine the lifted mass and provide the required support in real time. Twelve subjects joined a user study comparing the Paexo driven through this adaptive control to the Paexo locked in a fixed level of support. The results showed that the machine learning algorithm can successfully adapt the level of assistance to the lifted mass. Specifically, adaptive assistance can sensibly reduce the muscle activity’s sensitivity to the lifted mass, with an observed relative reduction of up to 31% of the muscular activity observed when lifting 2 kg normalized by the baseline when lifting no mass.

show abstract

“…The proposed device can reduce up to 32% of the biceps activity during the elbow flexion and up to 31% of the deltoids activity during the shoulder abduction. In-lab experimentation showed the potentials of such a hybrid approach in reducing the strain of the upper-limb muscles [75].…”

Section: 23b)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of exoskeletons for upper limb rehabilitation

Contreras-González¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Rigid, Soft, Passive, and Active: A Hybrid Occupational Exoskeleton for Bimanual Multijoint Assistance

Cited by 28 publications

References 25 publications

A Comprehensive Framework for the Modelling of Cartesian Force Output in Human Limbs

A Comprehensive Framework for the Modelling of Cartesian Force Output in Human Limbs

Unobtrusive, natural support control of an adaptive industrial exoskeleton using force myography

Study of exoskeletons for upper limb rehabilitation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About