Dynamical Coupling in Motor-Sensory Function Substitution

 

pictures

movies

references

In collaboration with the Developmental Cognitive Machines Lab. at the University of Tokyo (Prof. Hiroshi Yokoi), we have developed a prosthetic robotic hand inspired by the muscle tendon system of the human hand. The robotic hand has 13 degrees of freedom, and each finger has been equipped with different types of sensors (i.e., flex/bend, angle, and pressure).

At the Biomechatronics lab, medical system engineering department, at Chiba university (Prof. Wenwei Yu) in Japan, the same robotic hand has been used as a prosthetic device. EMG signals can be used to interface the robot hand non-invasively to a patient and electrical stimulation can be used as a substitute for tactile feedback.

As a result of this cooperation a new project entitled “Dynamical Coupling in Motor-Sensory Function Substitution” was submitted and accepted by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the project started on the first of April 2007. The goal of this project is the development of a prosthetic hand for motor-sensory function substitution which is dynamically coupled to an amputee’s sensor and motor control system. The hand will be based on EMG signals and various types of sensory feedback. By carefully investigating human upper limb dynamics and by taking into account morphological and material properties of assistive devices we hope to develop a scheme by which patients quickly learn to control the hand with less and less cognitive awareness by the user.

The main researchers involved in the project will be: Prof. Rolf Pfeifer, Prof. Wenwei Yu, Prof. Robert Riener, Gabriel Gómez, Alejandro Hernandez, and Prof. Hirsoshi Yokoi.

Pictures

  robotHand11.JPG robotSetup10.JPG
  robotHand12.JPG robotSetup13.JPG
  robotHand13.JPG robotSetup15.JPG
  robotHand14.JPG robotSetup16.JPG

Movies

  handBend01.mpg RobotHandGrasping.m1v
  handBend02.mpg robotHandSimulator (sinusoidal position control)
  roboticHand07.mpg robotHandSimulator (exploring a cube)

References

  • Pfeifer, R., Iida, F., and Gómez, G. (2006). Designing intelligent robots -- on the implications of embodiment, Review article in the Journal of Robotics Society of Japan, Vol.24(7): 9-16.

  • Yu, W., Yokoi, H., and Kakazu, Y. (2006). An Interaction Based Learning Method for Assistive Device Systems, In Focus on Robotics Research, Ed: John X. Liu, ISBN: 1-59454-594-4, pp. 123-159, Nova Publishers.

  • Pfeifer, R., Iida, F., and Gómez, G. (2006). Morphological computation for adaptive behavior and cognition. International Congress Series. 1291: 22-29.
  • Gomez, G., Hernandez, A., Eggenberger Hotz, P. (2006). An adaptive neural controller for a tendon driven robotic hand. In  Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Intelligent Autonomous Systems (IAS-9) . T. Arai et al. (Eds.), IOS Press, Tokyo, Japan, pp. 298-307.

  • Hernandez, A., Katoh, R., Yokoi, H., and Yu, W. (2006). Development of a multi-DOF　electromyography prosthetic system using the adaptive joint mechanism. Applied Bionics and Biomechanics, Vol. 3, issue 2, pp. 101-112

  •  Hernandez, A., Yokoi, H., Ohnishi, T., and Arai, T. (2006). An f-MRI study of an EMG prosthetic hand biofeedback system. In Proceedings of the 9th Int. Conf. on Intelligent Autonomous Systems  (IAS-9). T. Arai et al. (Eds.), IOS Press, Tokyo, Japan, pp. 921-929.

  • Alejandro Hernandez Arieta, Hiroshi Yokoi, Tamio Arai, Wenwei Yu. FES as Biofeedback for an EMG Controlled Prosthetic Hand. Proceedings IEEE Tencon 2005. Nov. 21st-24th. Melbourne, Australia.

  • Alejandro Hernandez Arieta, Hiroshi Yokoi, Tamio Arai, Wenwei Yu. Study on the Effects of Electrical Stimulation on the Pattern recognition for an EMG Prosthetic Application. Proceedings for the  27th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering In Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS 2005), Sept. 1st-5th,Shanghai, China.
  • Pfeifer, R.and Iida, F. (2005). Morphological computation: Connecting body, brain and environment. Japanese Scientific Monthly, Vol. 58, No. 2, 48-54. pdf
  • Yokoi, H., Hernandez Arieta, A., Katoh, R., Yu, W., Watanabe, I., and Maruishi, M. (2004). Mutual Adaptation in a Prosthetics Application. In Embodied artificial intelligence. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 3139. Iida, F., Pfeifer, R., Steels, L. and Kuniyoshi, Y. (Eds.).  Springer, ISBN: 3-540-22484-X. pp. 147- 159.
  • Yu, W., Yamaguchi, H., Yokoi, H., Maruishi, M., Mano, Y., and Kakazu, Y. (2003). An Adaptive FES Switching System for Hemiplegics. International Journal of Smart Engineering Systems, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 299-311