Cecilia E. Garcia Cena

Experiences and results from designing and developing a 6 DoF underwater parallel robot

REMO I Robot is a novel application of a parallel structure as an underwater robot of 6 DoF. Compared to other underwater robots, navigation of REMO I Robot is performed by the capability of its parallel structure to modify its geometric structure (thruster and front ring) and to displace by itself. This kinematic property of the parallel platform allows vectorial formation of thrusting forces to take place. Remo I Robot has just one single thruster in its rear ring, therefore the vectorial navigation gives maneuverability, flexibility, and holonomic capabilities for its navigation and positioning. The latter is important for intervention and manipulation tasks. That is why it gives a solid alternative when compared to traditional submarine robots such as shown in the simulation results and experiments performed using a real prototype. In conclusion, this paper proposes a conceptual frame for the development of underwater parallel robots. Moreover, it also points out the experience acquired from the development of the underwater Remo I Robot.

Skeletal Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Upper Limb of Human Shoulder under Brachial Plexus Injury

This article presents the skeletal-mathematical model and a measurement system for providing real-time information related to position, angular velocity, and orientation of different movements related to the upper limb of human shoulder using Inertial Measurement Units (IMU). The main goal of this system is to improve the rehabilitation tasks of unilateral brachial plexus injury, therefore a complete kinematic analysis of the shoulder skeletal system, considering only the essential variables to simulate the movements used in rehabilitation, is detailed. Finally, are presented some experimental tests based on joint physiology and biomechanics of human shoulder for children less than 10 years, according to desired restriction of medical staff belong to Hospital Infanta Sofia of Madrid.

Desarrollo de una Interfaz de Usuario para el Sistema Robótico Multiagente SMART

This article presents the multi-agent robotic system SMART. This system is integrated by different kind of software and / or hardware agent, so it can be classified as heterogeneous. Additionally, it is presented the development of a virtual reality interface through which a human user can acts on the system if it is necessary, otherwise the system operates autonomously. Also, this interface implements a different features aimed to achieve the performance of the whole system. The interface allows to reproduce the real scene and provides the user with information in real time what happens in reality. Because of heterogeneous system, communication between agents is made using different communication technologies (TCP / IP, WiFi and Bluetooth), therefore it was necessary to design a specific communication protocol that is described in this article.

Simulation of Rehabilitation Therapies for Brachial Plexus Injury Under the Influence of External Actuators

This work presents the modeling of the MX-64 and RX-64 servomotors from Robotis® and the analysis of their influence in some biomechanical movements for the rehabilitation of the upper brachial plexus injury. The model of each motor was introduced in a musculoskeletal model of the upper limb in order to compare their response and contribution in the movements made by a patient. The results have verified the feasibility of using these servomotors in an exoskeleton for the rehabilitation process of the injury.

Simulation of the Length Change in Muscles During the Arm Rotation for the Upper Brachial Plexus Injury

This work presents a 3D upper limb musculoskeletal model and the simulation of arm rotation for the case of a healthy human subject and one with upper brachial plexus injury (UBPI). Then, the length change in muscles and range of movement was obtained and compare for both cases. The results show a notable difference between the two cases and can be used to define an effective rehabilitation therapies for this injury.

OSCANN: Technical Characterization of a Novel Gaze Tracking Analyzer

Eye-movement analysis has grown exponentially in recent decades. The reason is that abnormalities in oculomotor movements are usually symptoms of injuries in the nervous system. This paper presents a novel regulated solution named OSCANN. OSCANN aims at providing an innovative tool for the control, management and visualization of oculomotor neurological examinations. This solution utilizes an eye-tracker sensor based on video electro-oculography (VOG) technology to capture eye movements and store them in video files. Such a sensor can store images at a rate of 100 frames per second. A characterization study was performed using twenty-two volunteers (13 male, 9 female, ages 22–45 years, mean 29.3 years, SD = 6.7) to assess the accuracy and precision specifications of OSCANN during oculomotor movement analysis. The accuracy was evaluated based on the offset, whereas precision was estimated with Root Means Square (RMS). Such a study reported values lower than 0.4∘ and 0.03∘ of accuracy and precision, respectively. These results suggest that OSCANN can be considered as a powerful tool to measure oculomotor movement alterations involved in some neurological disease progression.

Analysis of the Influence of External Actuators on the Glenohumeral Joint Movements

This work presents the simulation and analysis of the influence of MX-64 and RX-64 servomotors from Robotis® in human shoulder movements related to glenohumeral joint for the case of a subject with upper brachial plexus injury. The model of each motor was introduced in a 3D musculoskeletal model of the upper limb in order to compare their response and contribution in three different movements. The length change in muscles, range of movement and muscle force was obtained and compare for a healthy subject and a patient with upper brachial plexus injury. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using these servomotors in an exoskeleton for the rehabilitation process of the injury, although the RX-64 has characteristics that make it more suitable for a rehabilitation exoskeleton.

Mechanical Design of a Robotic Exoskeleton for Upper Limb Rehabilitation

This work presents the conceptual design, construction and testing of an upper limb rehabilitation system consisting of an exoskeleton of 6 degrees of freedom and a Human Machine Interface (HMI) to configure and control the exoskeleton. We present the study of the kinematics of the mechanical device followed by a three-dimensional modeling. Before the design of the exoskeleton was finished, we proceeded to the construction of a prototype in order to validate the model, using the Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) technology and a three RX-64 Dynamixel motors from Robotis. LabVIEW® software from National Instruments was chosed to develop the HMI to communicate the exoskeleton with a computer for control the device and obtain relevant data, as the position or movement velocity. The results show the feasibility of the assistance of the robotic device in a rehabilitation processes.

Experimental Identification of Lu-Gre Friction Model in an Hydraulic Actuator

In this work is presented the experimental identification of friction effects defined by the parameters of the LuGre model. The parameters are found by means of two experiments. The first one is performed with motions at constant velocity and the second one is performed under controlled force. These experiments allow to find separately the set of parameters that govern the steady state and the pre-sliding regime, respectively.

Experiences on the Design of a Needle Insertion Surgery Robot: Kinematic Analysis

In this work is presented the evolution of the concept of a needle insertion surgery robot. Five different prototypes were proposed, keeping the core concept of decoupling kinematics, and passing from a passive device to an autonomous robot. The kinematics of the mechanisms are presented. The different configurations for the inverse kinematics are introduced. The workspace of the final prototype is analyzed.