A General Control Method for Human-Robot Integration

TL;DR

This paper presents a unified control framework for multi-DoF assistive robots that seamlessly integrates human motion, reducing effort and discomfort, validated through simulations and real-world trials with virtual and physical robots.

Contribution

It introduces a generalized control method capable of managing various assistive robotic systems, including prostheses and avatars, with a focus on human-robot integration.

Findings

Effective control of multi-DoF assistive devices demonstrated

Reduced user effort and discomfort in trials

Validated with both virtual and real-world experiments

Abstract

This paper introduces a new generalized control method designed for multi-degrees-of-freedom devices to help people with limited motion capabilities in their daily activities. The challenge lies in finding the most adapted strategy for the control interface to effectively map user's motions in a low-dimensional space to complex robotic assistive devices, such as prostheses, supernumerary limbs, up to remote robotic avatars. The goal is a system which integrates the human and the robotic parts into a unique system, moving so as to reach the targets decided by the human while autonomously reducing the user's effort and discomfort. We present a framework to control general multi DoFs assistive systems, which translates user-performed compensatory motions into the necessary robot commands for reaching targets while canceling or reducing compensation. The framework extends to prostheses of any number of DoF up to full robotic avatars, regarded here as a sort of whole-body prosthesis of the person who sees the robot as an artificial extension of their own body without a physical link but with a sensory-motor integration. We have validated and applied this control strategy through tests encompassing simulated scenarios and real-world trials involving a virtual twin of the robotic parts (prosthesis and robot) and a physical humanoid avatar.