Sensor technology development for human robot interaction and joint misalignment assessment

• Ano de defesa: 2024
• Autor(a) principal: Jaimes, Jonathan Campo
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Instituição de defesa: Biblioteca Digitais de Teses e Dissertações da USP
• Palavras-chave em Português: estimativa de torque humano; estimativa do desalinhamento; human torque estimation; human-robot interaction systems; misalignment estimation; reabilitação robótica; robotic rehabilitation; sistemas de interação humano-robô
• Link de acesso: https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/18/18162/tde-09052024-090655/

In the rapid and growing development of Robotics within the field of Assistive and Rehabilitation Technologies, the evaluation of human-robot interaction torques is not only important to ensure patient safety, increasing the control effectiveness of rehabilitation devices, but also serves as an essential tool to provide clinicians with more reliable data. However, the complexities associated with its measurement often result in detailed procedures or costly implementations. Seeking to address these challenges, this doctoral research aims to develop and evaluate new wearable sensor technologies to estimate interaction torques and angular misalignment for Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) systems. A suite of three specialized sensor systems was developed. The initial prototype, based on Fiber Optic technology, introduces the concept of differential sensor measurement. The second sensor presents an improved version of the previous one, employing resistive force sensors and the definition of a new misalignment factor. Finally, the third prototype features an array of resistive force sensors and even more refined measurement methodologies, validated with force/torque (F/T) sensors under controlled misalignment conditions. The data from the proposed sensors are combined with the Disturbance Observers (DOB) methodology, seeking to accurately estimate and evaluate human-robot interaction torques and inherent joint misalignments. Characterization and evaluation phases with healthy volunteers, considering different configurations, confirm the viability and robustness of the proposed sensor prototypes. Of the proposed sensors, the prototype with an array of resistive force sensors proved to be more accurate and with more flexibility for estimating interaction torques and misalignment.