Cempini Marco, Marzegan Alberto, Rabuffetti Marco, Cortese Mario, Vitiello Nicola, Ferrarin Maurizio
The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025 Pontedera, Italy.
J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2014 Oct 18;11:147. doi: 10.1186/1743-0003-11-147.
Advances in technology are allowing for the production of several viable wearable robotic devices to assist with activities of daily living and with rehabilitation. One of the most pressing limitations to user satisfaction is the lack of consistency in motion between the user and the robotic device. The displacement between the robot and the body segment may not correspond because of differences in skin and tissue compliance, mechanical backlash, and/or incorrect fit.
This report presents the results of an analysis of relative displacement between the user's hand and a wearable exoskeleton, the HX. HX has been designed to maximize comfort, wearability and user safety, exploiting chains with multiple degrees-of-freedom with a modular architecture. These appealing features may introduce several uncertainties in the kinematic performances, especially when considering the anthropometry, morphology and degree of mobility of the human hand. The small relative displacements between the hand and the exoskeleton were measured with a video-based motion capture system, while the user executed several different grips in different exoskeleton modes.
The analysis furnished quantitative results about the device performance, differentiated among device modules and test conditions. In general, the global relative displacement for the distal part of the device was in the range 0.5-1.5 mm, while within 3 mm (worse but still acceptable) for displacements nearest to the hand dorsum. Conclusions over the HX design principles have been drawn, as well as guidelines for future developments.
技术进步使得多种可行的可穿戴机器人设备得以生产，以协助日常生活活动和康复。用户满意度面临的最紧迫限制之一是用户与机器人设备之间运动缺乏一致性。由于皮肤和组织顺应性、机械间隙和/或不合适的贴合度等差异，机器人与身体部位之间的位移可能不对应。
本报告展示了对用户手部与可穿戴外骨骼HX之间相对位移的分析结果。HX旨在通过采用具有模块化架构的多自由度链条，最大限度地提高舒适度、可穿戴性和用户安全性。这些吸引人的特性可能会在运动性能方面引入一些不确定性，尤其是在考虑人手的人体测量学、形态学和活动程度时。当用户在不同的外骨骼模式下执行几种不同的抓握动作时，使用基于视频的运动捕捉系统测量手部与外骨骼之间的微小相对位移。
该分析提供了关于设备性能的定量结果，区分了设备模块和测试条件。总体而言，设备远端部分的全局相对位移在0.5 - 1.5毫米范围内，而最靠近手背处的位移在3毫米以内（虽更差但仍可接受）。得出了关于HX设计原则的结论以及未来发展的指导方针。
