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Visual markers are useful tools that aid autonomous robots in object recognition and pose measurement; however, conventional markers have two fundamental problems in orientation estimation: (1) inaccurate estimation in the frontal direction and (2) pose ambiguity. We previously developed a visual marker “LentiMark” that solves problem (1). In this paper, we propose a solution to problem (2) by improving...
Some stroke patients are affected by hemiplegia, which is the complete paralysis of half of the body, and need to train in upper limb motions with high frequency to improve their quality of life. Therefore, the authors developed a portable robot with a main processor, actuators, motor drivers, a force sensor, and a touch display to assist such high-frequency training at home. To recover the motor...
Some unilateral lower-limb amputees load the intact limb more than the prosthetic limb. This can cause chronic pains, fatigue, lumbago, and joint diseases, including knee osteoarthritis. To avoid and counteract these symptoms it is necessary to improve their asymmetric gait. Increasing the function of the hip abductor muscle is important to maintaining symmetrical weight distribution. Therefore, the...
Hemiplegia patients have complete paralysis of half their body, and encounter many challenges in living an independent life. Rehabilitation of the lower body is more important than that of the upper body for independent living; thus, recovering upper body functions of their paralyzed side is not enough. Rehabilitation robots may be used to assist training without therapists. In this study, a small...
Validation of locomotive functions in elderly individuals is important in aging society. An algorithm to estimate the floor reaction forces on both feet were previously developed to evaluate the locomotive functions. This study improved this algorithm so that the floor reaction forces of both the feet and the force of something in his/her hand such as a stick can be estimated. To estimate a zero moment...
Visual markers are useful tools that support object recognition and pose measurements by autonomous robots; however, conventional markers have relatively low levels of accuracy in terms of pose estimation. We improved this estimation accuracy by changing the design of the marker and the corresponding image processing algorithm. More specifically, we used four dots, which are more stably detectable...
Prevention of pressure ulcers, which result from persistent mechanical loading of soft tissues, is a common issue among wheelchair users. In the case of deep tissue injury (DTI), it is difficult to predict where tissue breakdown will occur, as it initiates from tissues under the skin. In this paper, a new methodology to assess the risk of DTI using a compliant buttock dummy is proposed. The dummy...
The body type of persons using wheelchairs tend to be different from those of persons without disabilities, i.e., the former have limited clothes that suit them. Therefore, we have developed a robot arm simulated human body and motion to evaluate the comfort of clothes for persons using wheelchairs. We will promote the dissemination of fashionable adaptive clothing for wheelchair users, to encourage...
This paper introduces a method of force control for a jumping biped robot to correctly control the ground reaction force during continuous jumping. Assuming dynamic motion, such as jumping and running, the attitude of the robot depends on the dynamics in response to the ground reaction force. Therefore, controlling the ground reaction force is necessary for stabilizing the robot's motion. However,...
This study has developed a device and system for the exercise of eccentric contraction of the tibialis anterior, with the objective of maintaining ambulatory function. A system was built that allows for exercises of appropriate load and speed, by providing the trainee with force data in the form of visual feedback. An experimental verification with two healthy participants shows small variation in...
This paper proposes a new method of muscle force estimation based on the relationship between the muscle space and the task space using a general lower extremity model in the sagittal plane. In addition, we report a verification experiment using several active motion patterns with a training robot for the lower extremities. The results show that the muscle forces estimated by the proposed method exhibit...
Hemiplegia is the lingering effect after a stroke and causes varying impairments. The ability to generate and modulate force is frequently impaired. This study focuses on a rehabilitation technique that encourages force generation in an arbitrary direction. The authors introduced a physiotherapy technique into a rehabilitation robot. Force visualization was provided as a feedback strategy to facilitate...
Computer vision plays an important role in various applications. However, the accuracy of computer vision is often degraded by specular reflection. To solve this problem, a system utilizing a high-speed camera and a strobe for removing specular reflection has been shown to be effective. This method utilizes a principle of estimation using images with luminances varied by the flickering of a strobe...
This paper introduces the control method for the impact force based on feed-forward control considering the stiffness ellipse of a biped robot. Assuming dynamic motion, such as jumping and running, the jumping direction depends on the dynamics in response to the ground reaction force. Therefore, it is necessary to control the ground reaction force in order to stabilize the system. However, control...
This paper describes the development of an ankle training robot force visualization for eccentric contraction training. In the mechanism of walking, the eccentric contraction of the tibialis anterior muscle plays an important part in the phase between heel-strike and foot-flat as a shock absorber. However, the eccentric contraction has not been reported in previous research on ankle rehabilitation...
Several exoskeleton robots have been developed for use in rehabilitation. These robots help users to execute transitive motion rehabilitation with power assist. We propose a new robotics system that executes automatic movement training using target motion instruction. The proposed robot is wearable with a flexible body like clothes, and is actuated using a wire-driven mechanism. The robotics system...
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