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Remote Actuation Systems for Fully Wearable Assistive Devices: Requirements, Selection, and Optimization for Out-of-the-Lab Application of a Hand Exoskeleton

Wearable robots assist individuals with sensorimotor impairment in daily life, or support industrial workers in physically demanding tasks. In such scenarios, low mass and compact design are crucial factors for device acceptance. Remote actuation systems (RAS) have emerged as a popular approach in w...

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Autores principales: Dittli, Jan, Hofmann, Urs A. T., Bützer, Tobias, Smit, Gerwin, Lambercy, Olivier, Gassert, Roger
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7876397/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33585573
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2020.596185
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author Dittli, Jan
Hofmann, Urs A. T.
Bützer, Tobias
Smit, Gerwin
Lambercy, Olivier
Gassert, Roger
author_facet Dittli, Jan
Hofmann, Urs A. T.
Bützer, Tobias
Smit, Gerwin
Lambercy, Olivier
Gassert, Roger
author_sort Dittli, Jan
collection PubMed
description Wearable robots assist individuals with sensorimotor impairment in daily life, or support industrial workers in physically demanding tasks. In such scenarios, low mass and compact design are crucial factors for device acceptance. Remote actuation systems (RAS) have emerged as a popular approach in wearable robots to reduce perceived weight and increase usability. Different RAS have been presented in the literature to accommodate for a wide range of applications and related design requirements. The push toward use of wearable robotics in out-of-the-lab applications in clinics, home environments, or industry created a shift in requirements for RAS. In this context, high durability, ergonomics, and simple maintenance gain in importance. However, these are only rarely considered and evaluated in research publications, despite being drivers for device abandonment by end-users. In this paper, we summarize existing approaches of RAS for wearable assistive technology in a literature review and compare advantages and disadvantages, focusing on specific evaluation criteria for out-of-the-lab applications to provide guidelines for the selection of RAS. Based on the gained insights, we present the development, optimization, and evaluation of a cable-based RAS for out-of-the-lab applications in a wearable assistive soft hand exoskeleton. The presented RAS features full wearability, high durability, high efficiency, and appealing design while fulfilling ergonomic criteria such as low mass and high wearing comfort. This work aims to support the transfer of RAS for wearable robotics from controlled lab environments to out-of-the-lab applications.
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spelling pubmed-78763972021-02-12 Remote Actuation Systems for Fully Wearable Assistive Devices: Requirements, Selection, and Optimization for Out-of-the-Lab Application of a Hand Exoskeleton Dittli, Jan Hofmann, Urs A. T. Bützer, Tobias Smit, Gerwin Lambercy, Olivier Gassert, Roger Front Robot AI Robotics and AI Wearable robots assist individuals with sensorimotor impairment in daily life, or support industrial workers in physically demanding tasks. In such scenarios, low mass and compact design are crucial factors for device acceptance. Remote actuation systems (RAS) have emerged as a popular approach in wearable robots to reduce perceived weight and increase usability. Different RAS have been presented in the literature to accommodate for a wide range of applications and related design requirements. The push toward use of wearable robotics in out-of-the-lab applications in clinics, home environments, or industry created a shift in requirements for RAS. In this context, high durability, ergonomics, and simple maintenance gain in importance. However, these are only rarely considered and evaluated in research publications, despite being drivers for device abandonment by end-users. In this paper, we summarize existing approaches of RAS for wearable assistive technology in a literature review and compare advantages and disadvantages, focusing on specific evaluation criteria for out-of-the-lab applications to provide guidelines for the selection of RAS. Based on the gained insights, we present the development, optimization, and evaluation of a cable-based RAS for out-of-the-lab applications in a wearable assistive soft hand exoskeleton. The presented RAS features full wearability, high durability, high efficiency, and appealing design while fulfilling ergonomic criteria such as low mass and high wearing comfort. This work aims to support the transfer of RAS for wearable robotics from controlled lab environments to out-of-the-lab applications. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-01-28 /pmc/articles/PMC7876397/ /pubmed/33585573 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2020.596185 Text en Copyright © 2021 Dittli, Hofmann, Bützer, Smit, Lambercy and Gassert. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Robotics and AI
Dittli, Jan
Hofmann, Urs A. T.
Bützer, Tobias
Smit, Gerwin
Lambercy, Olivier
Gassert, Roger
Remote Actuation Systems for Fully Wearable Assistive Devices: Requirements, Selection, and Optimization for Out-of-the-Lab Application of a Hand Exoskeleton
title Remote Actuation Systems for Fully Wearable Assistive Devices: Requirements, Selection, and Optimization for Out-of-the-Lab Application of a Hand Exoskeleton
title_full Remote Actuation Systems for Fully Wearable Assistive Devices: Requirements, Selection, and Optimization for Out-of-the-Lab Application of a Hand Exoskeleton
title_fullStr Remote Actuation Systems for Fully Wearable Assistive Devices: Requirements, Selection, and Optimization for Out-of-the-Lab Application of a Hand Exoskeleton
title_full_unstemmed Remote Actuation Systems for Fully Wearable Assistive Devices: Requirements, Selection, and Optimization for Out-of-the-Lab Application of a Hand Exoskeleton
title_short Remote Actuation Systems for Fully Wearable Assistive Devices: Requirements, Selection, and Optimization for Out-of-the-Lab Application of a Hand Exoskeleton
title_sort remote actuation systems for fully wearable assistive devices: requirements, selection, and optimization for out-of-the-lab application of a hand exoskeleton
topic Robotics and AI
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7876397/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33585573
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2020.596185
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