A new and alternative method to measure the interaction force between the user and a lower-limb gait rehabilitation exoskeleton is presented. Instead of using a load cell to measure the resulting interaction force, we propose a distributed measure of the normal interaction pressure over the whole contact area between the user and the machine. To obtain this measurement, a soft silicone tactile sensor is inserted between the limb and commonly used connection cuffs. The advantage of this approach is that it allows for a distributed measure of the interaction pressure, which could be useful for rehabilitation therapy assessment purposes, or for control. Moreover, the proposed solution does not change the comfort of the interaction; can be applied to connection cuffs of different shapes and sizes; and can be manufactured at a low cost. Preliminary results during gait assistance tasks show that this approach can precisely detect changes in the pressure distribution during a gait cycle.
De Rossi, S., Vitiello, N., Lenzi, T., Ronsse, R., Koopman, B., Persichetti, A., et al. (2010). Soft artificial tactile sensors for the measurement of human-robot interaction in the rehabilitation of the lower limb. In 2010 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC'10 (pp.1279-1282). IEEE [10.1109/IEMBS.2010.5626409].
Soft artificial tactile sensors for the measurement of human-robot interaction in the rehabilitation of the lower limb
Carrozza M. C.
2010
Abstract
A new and alternative method to measure the interaction force between the user and a lower-limb gait rehabilitation exoskeleton is presented. Instead of using a load cell to measure the resulting interaction force, we propose a distributed measure of the normal interaction pressure over the whole contact area between the user and the machine. To obtain this measurement, a soft silicone tactile sensor is inserted between the limb and commonly used connection cuffs. The advantage of this approach is that it allows for a distributed measure of the interaction pressure, which could be useful for rehabilitation therapy assessment purposes, or for control. Moreover, the proposed solution does not change the comfort of the interaction; can be applied to connection cuffs of different shapes and sizes; and can be manufactured at a low cost. Preliminary results during gait assistance tasks show that this approach can precisely detect changes in the pressure distribution during a gait cycle.
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
