SoftRobotics Lab for Human Cooperation and Rehabilitation, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy.
Research Center E.Piaggio, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2023 Feb 8;20(1):20. doi: 10.1186/s12984-023-01130-x.
Among commercially-available upper-limb prostheses, the two most often used solutions are simple hook-style grippers and poly-articulated hands, which present a higher number of articulations and show a closer resemblance to biological limbs. In their majority, the former type of prostheses is body-powered, while the second type is controlled by myoelectric signals. Body-powered grippers are easy to control and allow a simple form of force feedback, frequently appreciated by users. However, they present limited versatility. Poly-articulated hands afford a wide range of grasp and manipulation types, but require enough residual muscle activation for dexterous control. Several factors, e.g. level of limb loss, personal preferences, cost, current occupation, and hobbies can influence the preference for one option over the other, and is always a result of the trade-off between system performance and users' needs.
The SoftHand Pro (SHP) is an artificial hand platform that has 19 independent joints (degrees-of-freedom), but is controlled by a single input. The design of this prosthesis is inspired by the concept of postural synergies in motor control and implemented with soft-robotic technologies. Their combination provides increased robustness, safe interaction and the execution of diverse grasps. The potential of the SHP is fully unleashed when users learn how to exploit its features and create an intimate relationship between the technical aspects of the prosthesis design and its control by the user.
The great versatility of the SoftHand Pro (a reasearch protpotype) permitted its adaptation to the user requirements. This was experienced by the SoftHand Pro Team during the preparation for different CYBATHLON events (from 2016 to 2020). The mixed power and dexterous hand operations required by each task of the race is inspired by everyday tasks. Our prosthesis was driven by different pilots, with different habits and backgrounds. Consequently, the hand control modality was customized according to the user's preferences. Furthermore, the CYBATHLON tasks had some variations in this period, promoting the continuous development of our technology with a user-centered approach. In this paper, we describe the participation and preparation of the SoftHand Pro Team from 2016 to 2020 with three pilots and two different activation modalities, hybrid body-controlled and myoelectric control.
We introduced our pilots, the implementation of the two control modalities, and describe the successful participation in all CYBATHLON events. This work proves the versatility of the system towards the user's preferences and the changes in the race requirements. Finally, we discussed how the CYBATHLON experience and the training in the real-world scenario have driven the evolution of our system and gave us remarkable insights for future perspectives.
在商业上可用的上肢假肢中，最常使用的两种解决方案是简单的钩状夹爪和多关节手，它们具有更多的关节，更接近生物肢体。这些假肢大多数是身体驱动的，而第二种是由肌电信号控制的。身体驱动的夹爪易于控制，并允许简单形式的力反馈，这经常受到用户的赞赏。然而，它们的多功能性有限。多关节手可以提供广泛的抓握和操作类型，但需要足够的残余肌肉激活来实现灵巧控制。一些因素，例如肢体缺失程度、个人偏好、成本、当前职业和爱好，可能会影响对一种选择的偏好，这总是系统性能和用户需求之间权衡的结果。
SoftHand Pro (SHP) 是一种人工手平台，具有 19 个独立关节（自由度），但由单个输入控制。这种假肢的设计灵感来自于运动控制中的姿势协同概念，并采用软机器人技术实现。它们的组合提供了更高的鲁棒性、安全的交互和多样化的抓握。当用户学会如何利用其功能并在假肢设计的技术方面及其用户控制之间建立亲密关系时，SoftHand Pro 的潜力将得到充分释放。
SoftHand Pro（研究原型）的多功能性允许其适应用户需求。SoftHand Pro 团队在为不同的 CYBATHLON 赛事（2016 年至 2020 年）做准备时就体验到了这一点。比赛中每项任务所需的混合动力和灵巧手操作灵感来自于日常任务。我们的假肢由不同的飞行员驱动，他们有不同的习惯和背景。因此，根据用户的喜好定制了手控模式。此外，在这段时间里，CYBATHLON 任务发生了一些变化，推动了我们以用户为中心的技术的持续发展。在本文中，我们描述了 SoftHand Pro 团队从 2016 年到 2020 年的参赛情况和准备情况，共有三名飞行员，采用了两种不同的激活方式，即混合体控和肌电控制。
我们介绍了我们的飞行员、两种控制方式的实现，并描述了在所有 CYBATHLON 赛事中的成功参与。这项工作证明了系统对用户偏好和比赛要求变化的多功能性。最后，我们讨论了 CYBATHLON 经验和真实场景中的培训如何推动我们系统的发展，并为我们提供了未来的重要见解。
