Robotically Aided Method to Characterise the Soft Tissue Interaction with Wearable Robots.

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Robotics
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Wearable robots require comfortable and safe human-device interaction.
• Pressure and shear stress in human-robot interfaces are often overlooked.
• Accurate soft tissue characterization is vital for calculating interaction stresses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel methodology for characterizing soft human tissues.
• To enable in-vivo characterization across multiple body areas.
• To improve the design and safety of wearable robotic devices.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a robotic arm and a 3D superficial scanner for soft tissue characterization.
• Validated the robotic arm by comparing tensile/compression tests with indentation tests.
• Developed a hyperelastic model to fit experimental data from forearm tissues.

Main Results:

• The robotic arm achieved a 10.4% error rate in validation tests.
• A hyperelastic model was successfully fitted to two adjacent forearm tissue zones.
• The methodology demonstrates potential for extended analysis of stresses and deformations.

Conclusions:

• The novel robotic methodology simplifies soft tissue characterization for wearable robotics.
• This approach is adaptable for multiple body areas, addressing current limitations.
• Further research can explore shear stress, energy losses, and pressure distributions.