AI-Based Estimation and Control of Wearable Robotic Systems for Enhancing Human Mobility

Wearable robotic systems such as lower-limb exoskeletons and prostheses are capable of augmenting human mobility and assisting individuals with mobility impairments. Conventionally, these systems generate joint torques that mimic the user’s underlying biomechanical joint demand during movement. Unfortunately, due to the dynamic nature of human movement during daily locomotor activities, it is challenging to develop a control framework that captures the full range of intended movements. However, recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) have enabled improved comprehension of the human state information in real-time, enabling robust control of these wearable systems during dynamic movement. While these AI-based strategies show exciting promise, there remain critical hurdles for these interventions to be deployed to the real world. Challenges include positive feedback loops between actuation and sensing, data size requirements for user-independent models, model’s robustness to unseen mobility contexts, transitions between ambulation modes, and sensor data shifting. In general, there have been few attempts to tackle the critical problem of translating/generalizing laboratory-based AI approaches to real-world, large-scale applications. In this workshop, we will tackle these important challenges from multiple perspectives (both high-level and practical; academic and industrial) and provide roadmaps for future wearable robotic system developers to incorporate AI-based controllers for their applications.

Workshop Abstract Deadline: August 5th, 2024

We are pleased to invite 1 page extended abstract submissions for the AI-Based Estimation and Control of Wearable Robotic Systems for Enhancing Human Mobility at BioRob 2024, which will be reviewed and selected for short talks and/or a poster session.

Abstract topics of interest include all aspects of ML-based wearable robotics control, including (but not exclusive to): Estimation of user or environmental state; User intent recognition; Computer vision for movement estimation; Simulation and data augmentation for informing controller design; Adaptive wearable robot control; Novel sensing methods for wearable robot control.

Short Talk

A series of short talks given by junior researchers in the field (student or postdoctoral researcher)
5 minutes each followed by a 2 minute Q&A
To extend active discussions on relevant topics, we will hold the poster session and a short networking session following this event

Poster Session

A small symposium where both junior and senior researchers interact by presenting work via a poster session
The entire poster session will be held for 1 hour during lunchtime
Potential short talk presenters will be solicited through the same abstract submission

Apply to Workshop (Lightning Talk and/or Poster)