7. Prototypes

Objectives:

Interbot Platform 1

Interbot Platform 2

Interbot Platform 3

The development of assistive robots involves the need for a compliant robot that should allow safe human-robot physical interaction. The platform 2 is a prototype that is used to study and development of strategies to improve the safety of the physical human-robot interactions. These developments will be extrapolated to other prototypes, like platform 1 and ISR-AIWALKER.

Achievements:

Force sensing tool: Allow the understanding of the forces that will be involved during the contact between the mobile robot and a rigid surface or during the human-robot physical interaction;

Low-level force control: Allow the control of the contact forces of the robot, ensuring low interaction forces and safe interaction physical human-robot interactions.

ISR-AIWALKER: Robotic walker for mobility assistance and rehabilitation based on low-cost technologies

ISR-AIWalker: A multimodal system which takes advantage of several sensors to provide an intuitive and safe HMI for mobility assistance, and a system to analyze gait for rehabilitation purposes. The system is composed by a differential motorized platform built from the ground-up at ISR. The HMI is based on the low-cost Leap Motion Controller, providing an innovative and safer vision-based interface through hand tracking. Gait Analysis is achieved through the use cameras with short ranges, specifically the Leap Motion Controller and the Intel F200 camera. These cameras placed in a multimodal setup provide the perception of the user’s waist and legs in a very close proximity. These sensors and their placement is a new contribution for the field of gait analysis, which conventionally is based on expensive camera setups placed within a room.

Publications:

J. Paulo and P. Peixoto, “Classification of reaching and gripping gestures for safety on walking aids”, The 23rd IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, Scotland 2014.

João Paulo, Paulo Peixoto and Urbano Nunes, “A Novel Vision-based Human-Machine Interface for a Robotic Walker Framework”, The 24th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, Japan 2015.

João Paulo, Paulo Peixoto and Urbano Nunes, “ISR-AI Walker: A Robotic Walker For Intuitive and Safe Mobility Assistance and Gait Analysis” (submitted to a Journal)

ISR Robot Head