Katherine M. Tsui, Eric McCann, Amelia McHugh, Mikhail Medvedev, Holly A. Yanco, David Kontak and Jill L. Drury
The authors believe that people with cognitive and motor impairments may benefit from using of telepresence robots to engage in social activities. To date, these systems have not…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors believe that people with cognitive and motor impairments may benefit from using of telepresence robots to engage in social activities. To date, these systems have not been designed for use by people with disabilities as the robot operators. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted two formative evaluations using a participatory action design process. First, the authors conducted a focus group (n=5) to investigate how members of the target audience would want to direct a telepresence robot in a remote environment using speech. The authors then conducted a follow-on experiment in which participants (n=12) used a telepresence robot or directed a human in a scavenger hunt task.
Findings
The authors collected a corpus of 312 utterances (first hand as opposed to speculative) relating to spatial navigation. Overall, the analysis of the corpus supported several speculations put forth during the focus group. Further, it showed few statistically significant differences between speech used in the human and robot agent conditions; thus, the authors believe that, for the task of directing a telepresence robot's movements in a remote environment, people will speak to the robot in a manner similar to speaking to another person.
Practical implications
Based upon the two formative evaluations, the authors present four guidelines for designing speech-based interfaces for telepresence robots.
Originality/value
Robot systems designed for general use do not typically consider people with disabilities. The work is a first step towards having our target population take the active role of the telepresence robot operator.
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Mohammad Esmaeili, Nathanaël Jarrassé, Wayne Dailey, Etienne Burdet and Domenico Campolo
The purpose of this paper is to propose a method to avoid hyperstaticity and eventually reduce the magnitude of undesired force/torques. The authors also study the influence of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a method to avoid hyperstaticity and eventually reduce the magnitude of undesired force/torques. The authors also study the influence of hyperstaticity on human motor control during a redundant task.
Design/methodology/approach
Increasing the level of transparency of robotic interfaces is critical to haptic investigations and applications. This issue is particularly important to robotic structures that mimic the human counterpart's morphology and attach directly to the limb. Problems arise for complex joints such as the wrist, which cannot be accurately matched with a traditional mechanical joint. In such cases, mechanical differences between human and robotic joint cause hyperstaticity (i.e. over-constrained) which, coupled with kinematic misalignment, leads to uncontrolled force/torque at the joint. This paper focusses on the prono-supination (PS) degree of freedom of the forearm. The overall force and torque in the wrist PS rotation is quantified by means of a wrist robot.
Findings
A practical solution to avoid hyperstaticity and reduce the level of undesired force/torque in the wrist is presented. This technique is shown to reduce 75 percent of the force and 68 percent of the torque. It is also shown an over-constrained mechanism could alter human motor strategies.
Practical implications
The presented solution could be taken into account in the early phase of design of robots. It could also be applied to modify the fixation points of commercial robots in order to reduce the magnitude of reaction forces and avoid changes in motor strategy during the robotic therapy.
Originality/value
In this paper for the first time the authors study the effect of hyperstaticity on both reaction forces and human motor strategies.
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Dalia De Santis, Jacopo Zenzeri, Maura Casadio, Lorenzo Masia, Valentina Squeri and Pietro Morasso
The working hypothesis, on which this paper is built, is that it is advantageous to look at protocols of robot rehabilitation in the general context of human-robot interaction in…
Abstract
Purpose
The working hypothesis, on which this paper is built, is that it is advantageous to look at protocols of robot rehabilitation in the general context of human-robot interaction in haptic dyads. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new method to detect and evaluate an index of active participation (AC index), underlying the performance of robot-assisted movements. This is important for avoiding the slacking phenomenon that affects robot therapy.
Design/methodology/approach
The evaluation of the AC index is based on a novel technique of assistance which does not use constant or elastic forces but trains of small force impulses, with amplitude adapted to the level of impairment and a frequency of 2 Hz, which is suggested by recent results in the field of intermittent motor control. A preliminary feasibility test of the proposed method was carried out during a haptic reaching task in the absence of visual feedback, for a group of five stroke patients and an equal group of healthy subjects.
Findings
The AC index appears to be stable and sensitive to training in both populations of subjects.
Originality/value
The main original element of this study is the proposal of the new AC index of voluntary control associated with the new method of pulsed haptic interaction.
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Patrick Aubin, Kelsey Petersen, Hani Sallum, Conor Walsh, Annette Correia and Leia Stirling
Pediatric disorders, such as cerebral palsy and stroke, can result in thumb-in-palm deformity greatly limiting hand function. This not only limits children's ability to perform…
Abstract
Purpose
Pediatric disorders, such as cerebral palsy and stroke, can result in thumb-in-palm deformity greatly limiting hand function. This not only limits children's ability to perform activities of daily living but also limits important motor skill development. Specifically, the isolated orthosis for thumb actuation (IOTA) is 2 degrees of freedom (DOF) thumb exoskeleton that can actuate the carpometacarpal (CMC) and metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints through ranges of motion required for activities of daily living. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
IOTA consists of a lightweight hand-mounted mechanism that can be secured and aligned to individual wearers. The mechanism is actuated via flexible cables that connect to a portable control box. Embedded encoders and bend sensors monitor the 2 DOF of the thumb and flexion/extension of the wrist. A linear force characterization was performed to test the mechanical efficiency of the cable-drive transmission and the output torque at the exoskeletal CMC and MCP joints was measured.
Findings
Using this platform, a number of control modes can be implemented that will enable the device to be controlled by a patient to assist with opposition grasp and fine motor control. Linear force and torque studies showed a maximum efficiency of 44 percent, resulting in a torque of 2.39±1.06 in.-lbf and 0.69±0.31 in.-lbf at the CMC and MCP joints, respectively.
Practical implications
The authors envision this at-home device augmenting the current in-clinic and at-home therapy, enabling telerehabilitation protocols.
Originality/value
This paper presents the design and characterization of a novel device specifically designed for pediatric grasp telerehabilitation to facilitate improved functionality and somatosensory learning.
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Hairong Jiang, Juan P. Wachs and Bradley S. Duerstock
The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated, computer vision-based system to operate a commercial wheelchair-mounted robotic manipulator (WMRM). In addition, a gesture…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated, computer vision-based system to operate a commercial wheelchair-mounted robotic manipulator (WMRM). In addition, a gesture recognition interface system was developed specially for individuals with upper-level spinal cord injuries including object tracking and face recognition to function as an efficient, hands-free WMRM controller.
Design/methodology/approach
Two Kinect® cameras were used synergistically to perform a variety of simple object retrieval tasks. One camera was used to interpret the hand gestures and locate the operator's face for object positioning, and then send those as commands to control the WMRM. The other sensor was used to automatically recognize different daily living objects selected by the subjects. An object recognition module employing the Speeded Up Robust Features algorithm was implemented and recognition results were sent as a commands for “coarse positioning” of the robotic arm near the selected object. Automatic face detection was provided as a shortcut enabling the positing of the objects close by the subject's face.
Findings
The gesture recognition interface incorporated hand detection, tracking and recognition algorithms, and yielded a recognition accuracy of 97.5 percent for an eight-gesture lexicon. Tasks’ completion time were conducted to compare manual (gestures only) and semi-manual (gestures, automatic face detection, and object recognition) WMRM control modes. The use of automatic face and object detection significantly reduced the completion times for retrieving a variety of daily living objects.
Originality/value
Integration of three computer vision modules were used to construct an effective and hand-free interface for individuals with upper-limb mobility impairments to control a WMRM.
Details
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Guilherme F. Frederico, Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes, Anthony Anosike and Vikas Kumar
Industry 4.0 is one of the most emergent research topics attracting significant interest by researchers as well as practitioners. Many articles have been published with regards…
Abstract
Purpose
Industry 4.0 is one of the most emergent research topics attracting significant interest by researchers as well as practitioners. Many articles have been published with regards Industry 4.0; however, there is no research that clearly conceptualizes Industry 4.0 in the context of supply chain. This paper aims to propose the term “Supply Chain 4.0” together with a novel conceptual framework that captures the essence of Industry 4.0 within the supply chain context. As Industry 4.0 is inherently a revolution, and as revolutions are evolutionary, this research also aims to capture the evolution of Supply Chain 4.0 from maturity levels perspective to facilitate the formulation and development of Supply Chain 4.0 strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a deductive research approach and a qualitative strategy, a systematic literature review (SLR) was adopted as the research method seeking to understand the relationships among supply chain, Industry 4.0 and maturity levels research. The three phases of the SLR process utilized are: planning, conducting and reporting. A concept-oriented technique was applied to the outputs of the SLR to obtain the key constructs that would facilitate the development of the conceptual Supply Chain 4.0 framework.
Findings
The SLR showed that there is limited research linking Industry 4.0 to supply chain. Nevertheless, it was possible to extract a set of thematic categories from the analysis of the articles which are referred to as constructs as they form the core of the conceptual Supply Chain 4.0 framework. These constructs are managerial and capability supporters, technology levers, processes performance requirements and strategic outcomes. Each of these constructs consists of a number of elements which are referred to as “dimensions” in this research and a total of 21 dimensions were identified during the SLR. The SLR also demonstrated that maturity propositions for Industry 4.0 are still embrionary and entirely missing in the context of supply chain. Hence, this research develops and proposes a maturity levels framework that is underpinned by the core constructs of Supply Chain 4.0 and the corresponding dimensions. As these proposed frameworks are conceptual, this research also identifies and proposes several research directions to help fortify the Supply Chain 4.0 concept.
Research limitations/implications
This research argues that the frameworks are robust because the constructs and dimensions are grounded in the literature, thus demonstrating both theoretical and practical relevance and value. As Supply Chain 4.0 research is still in infancy, there is a range of open research questions suggested based on the frameworks that could serve as guides for researchers to further develop the Supply Chain 4.0 concept. Also, practitioners can use this framework to develop better understanding of Supply Chain 4.0 and be able to evaluate the maturity of their organizations. As the proposed frameworks are conceptual, they require further empirical research to validate them and obtain new insights.
Originality/value
The SLR demonstrated a clear gap in literature with regards to Industry 4.0 in the context of supply chain, and also in the context of Industry 4.0 maturity levels for supply chain. This research is unique as it formulates and introduces novel frameworks that close these gaps in literature. The value of this research lies in the fact that it makes significant contribution in terms of understanding of Supply Chain 4.0 with a clear set of constructs and dimensions that form Supply Chain 4.0, which provides the foundation for further work in this area.