Robotics Institute, School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
Proc Inst Mech Eng H. 2023 Jul;237(7):829-840. doi: 10.1177/09544119231179568. Epub 2023 Jun 10.
This study aims to characterize contact forces between humans and tools during activities of daily living (ADL) to provide information to a personal care robot. The study was conducted on non-impaired subjects to capture various static and dynamic force levels when making contact with three different robotic tools, each designed to perform an ADL task: hair brushing, face wiping, and face shaving. The static trial of the study involved 21 participants. Forces were collected at fixed locations for each task and used to develop models for each participant. Extraction of the maximum force levels was performed for both the maximum and desired levels of force. The dynamic trial involved 24 individuals. Participants were asked to maintain a comfortable level of force for the duration of their contact with the tool as the robot moved along its path to perform the ADL task. For the static and dynamic trials, higher forces were observed during hair brushing compared to the other two tasks. It was observed that the hair brushing task force at a specific contact point has an overall maximum of 55.66 N, while the maximum forces detected in the face wiping and face shaving tasks were 36.40 and 11.11 N, respectively. The forces collected were analyzed, and no trends were found relating the contact forces to the gender, height, or weight of the subjects. Based on the analysis of the results, recommendations have been made to enhance the force safety limits for the personal care robot working environment.
本研究旨在描述人类与工具在日常生活活动(ADL)中的接触力,为个人护理机器人提供信息。该研究在非受损受试者中进行,以捕获与三种不同的机器人工具接触时的各种静态和动态力水平,每种工具都旨在执行 ADL 任务:梳头、擦脸和刮脸。研究的静态试验涉及 21 名参与者。为每个任务在固定位置收集力,并为每个参与者开发模型。对最大力水平和期望力水平进行最大力水平的提取。动态试验涉及 24 人。要求参与者在机器人沿着其路径执行 ADL 任务时与工具保持舒适的力接触,持续接触力。在静态和动态试验中,与其他两项任务相比,梳头时观察到的力更大。观察到在特定接触点的梳头任务力具有 55.66N 的总体最大值,而在擦脸和刮脸任务中检测到的最大力分别为 36.40N 和 11.11N。对收集到的力进行了分析,没有发现接触力与受试者的性别、身高或体重有关的趋势。基于结果分析,提出了增强个人护理机器人工作环境的力安全限制的建议。