Department of Biomechanical Engineering, University of Twente, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands.
Centro de Automática y Robótica, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28500 Madrid, Spain.
Sensors (Basel). 2021 Dec 24;22(1):119. doi: 10.3390/s22010119.
Recent advances in the control of overground exoskeletons are being centered on improving balance support and decreasing the reliance on crutches. However, appropriate methods to quantify the stability of these exoskeletons (and their users) are still under development. A reliable and reproducible balance assessment is critical to enrich exoskeletons' performance and their interaction with humans. In this work, we present the BenchBalance system, which is a benchmarking solution to conduct reproducible balance assessments of exoskeletons and their users. Integrating two key elements, i.e., a hand-held perturbator and a smart garment, BenchBalance is a portable and low-cost system that provides a quantitative assessment related to the reaction and capacity of wearable exoskeletons and their users to respond to controlled external perturbations. A software interface is used to guide the experimenter throughout a predefined protocol of measurable perturbations, taking into account antero-posterior and mediolateral responses. In total, the protocol is composed of sixteen perturbation conditions, which vary in magnitude and location while still controlling their orientation. The data acquired by the interface are classified and saved for a subsequent analysis based on synthetic metrics. In this paper, we present a proof of principle of the BenchBalance system with a healthy user in two scenarios: subject not wearing and subject wearing the H2 lower-limb exoskeleton. After a brief training period, the experimenter was able to provide the manual perturbations of the protocol in a consistent and reproducible way. The balance metrics defined within the BenchBalance framework were able to detect differences in performance depending on the perturbation magnitude, location, and the presence or not of the exoskeleton. The BenchBalance system will be integrated at EUROBENCH facilities to benchmark the balance capabilities of wearable exoskeletons and their users.
近年来，地面外骨骼的控制技术取得了进展，主要集中在提高平衡支撑能力和减少对拐杖的依赖上。然而，仍然需要开发适当的方法来量化这些外骨骼（及其使用者）的稳定性。可靠且可重复的平衡评估对于丰富外骨骼的性能及其与人类的交互至关重要。在这项工作中，我们提出了 BenchBalance 系统，这是一种基准测试解决方案，可对外骨骼及其使用者进行可重复的平衡评估。BenchBalance 集成了两个关键要素，即手持扰断器和智能服装，是一种便携式且低成本的系统，可提供与可穿戴外骨骼及其使用者对受控外部干扰的反应和能力相关的定量评估。软件界面用于在可测量干扰的预定义协议中指导实验者，同时考虑前后和左右方向的响应。总的来说，该协议由十六种干扰条件组成，这些条件在控制其方向的同时，在幅度和位置上有所变化。界面采集的数据根据综合指标进行分类和保存，以备后续分析。在本文中，我们以两名健康受试者为例，展示了 BenchBalance 系统的原理验证：一名受试者不穿 H2 下肢外骨骼，另一名受试者穿着 H2 下肢外骨骼。经过短暂的培训期后，实验者能够以一致且可重复的方式提供协议的手动干扰。在 BenchBalance 框架内定义的平衡指标能够根据干扰幅度、位置以及外骨骼的存在与否检测到性能差异。BenchBalance 系统将被集成到 EUROBENCH 设施中，以对外骨骼及其使用者的平衡能力进行基准测试。
