José María Sabater

Pneumatic robotic systems for upper limb rehabilitation

The aim of rehabilitation robotic area is to research on the application of robotic devices to therapeutic procedures. The goal is to achieve the best possible motor, cognitive and functional recovery for people with impairments following various diseases. Pneumatic actuators are attractive for robotic rehabilitation applications because they are lightweight, powerful, and compliant, but their control has historically been difficult, limiting their use. This article first reviews the current state-of-art in rehabilitation robotic devices with pneumatic actuation systems reporting main features and control issues of each therapeutic device. Then, a new pneumatic rehabilitation robot for proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation therapies and for relearning daily living skills: like taking a glass, drinking, and placing object on shelves is described as a case study and compared with the current pneumatic rehabilitation devices.

Teleoperated parallel climbing robots in nuclear installations

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to present new robotic structures that can be suitable for inspection, maintenance and dismantling tasks in nuclear facilities.Design/methodology/approach – In the first part, two types of parallel robots capable to climb through structures are presented. The kinematics of the proposed platforms is reviewed, with emphasis on the analysis of the singularities. Next section shows the control architecture and the hardware setup of the developed system. Finally, the prototypes developed are showed and some conclusions are obtained.Findings – The slave robot is a parallel structure with the ability to climb over structures and with a very high load capacity. The master device is a parallel device with special characteristics that makes easier the teleoperation of the parallel slave robot.Originality/value – The paper presents a teleoperation system based on parallel platform with 6 degrees of freedom to overcome the classical difficulties of teleoperation in nuclear facilities.

Dynamic analysis for a teleoperation system with time delay

In this paper, the dynamic analysis for a teleoperation system with time delay is presented. The teleoperation system is controlled using a new design method through state convergence. This control method allows establishing the dynamics of the slave and the master-slave error. To perform the dynamic analysis, the influence of the slave and the error poles location in the dynamic behavior of the teleoperation system is studied. Also the robustness of the method control against slightly variations in the design parameters is analyzed.

Design, modelling and implementation of a 6 URS parallel haptic device

Abstract Tactile exploration of remote or virtual environments needs a mechanical interface that allows the operator to interact with the remote zone. Parallel platforms offer advantages that make them suitable for working as master devices in a bilateral teleoperation scheme. This paper proposes the modification of a 6 UPS Gough–Steward platform by interchanging the linear actuators by cable-driven pantographs with rotational electric actuators in order to improve the workspace and output bandwidth. The paper presents the mechanical design, the geometric and dynamic model, and control algorithms of a 6 URS platform developed to be used either as an impedance display that reads the position of the operator and reflects force or as an admittance display that reads the Cartesian forces and reflects positions.

Auto-adaptive robot-aided therapy using machine learning techniques

This paper presents an application of a classification method to adaptively and dynamically modify the therapy and real-time displays of a virtual reality system in accordance with the specific state of each patient using his/her physiological reactions. First, a theoretical background about several machine learning techniques for classification is presented. Then, nine machine learning techniques are compared in order to select the best candidate in terms of accuracy. Finally, first experimental results are presented to show that the therapy can be modulated in function of the patient state using machine learning classification techniques.

Field and service applications - Exploring deep sea by teleoperated robot - An Underwater Parallel Robot with High Navigation Capabilities

This article presents a new application of parallel robots as underwater vehicles. The article shows the methodology applied in the design process, its modeling and the building of a novel underwater parallel robot (UPR). The designed robot is based on the well-known Stewart-Gough (S-G) platform that leads us to a new concept of geometry-variable underwater robot. The main advantage of this study is that the S-G platform allows not only a relative orientation between the two rings, but also a relative displacement, which increases the navigation capabilities of other gimbaled thruster designs. Navigation and control of this new type of underwater robots lead to new challenges that still have to be solved.

Multimodal Interfaces to Improve Therapeutic Outcomes in Robot-Assisted Rehabilitation

The paper presents the developing of a new robotic system for the administration of a highly sophisticated therapy to stroke patients. This therapy is able to maximize patient motivation and involvement in the therapy and continuously assess the progress of the recovery from the functional viewpoint. Current robotic rehabilitation systems do not include patient information on the control loop. The main novelty of the presented approach is to close patient in the loop and use multisensory data (such as pulse, skin conductance, skin temperature, position, velocity, etc.) to adaptively and dynamically change complexity of the therapy and real-time displays of a virtual reality system in accordance with specific patient requirements. First, an analysis of subjects physiological responses to different tasks is presented with the objective to select the best candidate of physiological signals to estimate the patient physiological state during the execution of a virtual rehabilitation task. Then, the design of a prototype of multimodal robotic platform is defined and developed to validate the scientific value of the proposed approach.

Performance evaluation of spherical parallel platforms for humanoid robots

This paper presents a simple methodology for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the performance of spherical parallel platforms. The quaternion formulation is used to represent the possible rotations, showing the workspace as a three-dimensional (3-D) solid object. The singularities of the platform intersect graphically with its workspace, allowing a graphical study of the mechanism kinematics. The performance criterion considered here has been the local dexterity of the manipulator. This methodology has been used to study and analyze three known orientation parallel platforms: 3- R RR, 3-U P U-wrist, and 2-U P S-1- R U. The objective of this study is to analyze the ability of these platforms to be utilized as mechanisms for the neck and shoulders of humanoid robots. Finally, the forces on actuators in some typical motions for neck and shoulder are plotted.

Distributed Smart Device for Monitoring, Control and Management of Electric Loads in Domotic Environments

This paper presents a microdevice for monitoring, control and management of electric loads at home. The key idea is to compact the electronic design as much as possible in order to install it inside a Schuko socket. Moreover, the electronic Schuko socket (electronic microdevice + Schuko socket) has the feature of communicating with a central unit and with other microdevices over the existing powerlines. Using the existing power lines, the proposed device can be installed in new buildings or in old ones. The main use of this device is to monitor, control and manage electric loads to save energy and prevent accidents produced by different kind of devices (e.g., iron) used in domestic tasks. The developed smart device is based on a single phase multifunction energy meter manufactured by Analog Devices (ADE7753) to measure the consumption of electrical energy and then to transmit it using a serial interface. To provide current measurement information to the ADE7753, an ultra flat SMD open loop integrated circuit current transducer based on the Hall effect principle manufactured by Lem (FHS-40P/SP600) has been used. Moreover, each smart device has a PL-3120 smart transceiver manufactured by LonWorks to execute the users program, to communicate with the ADE7753 via serial interface and to transmit information to the central unit via powerline communication. Experimental results show the exactitude of the measurements made using the developed smart device.

Classification method for BCIs based on the correlation of EEG maps

Abstract This paper describes a new method of classification for a Brain–Computer Interface (BCI) based on a normalized cross-correlation of EEG maps which represent the mental activity of the brain. An optimization protocol has been designed to choose the main parameters of the classifier in order to increase the accuracy on the classification. This protocol has been tested with the registers provided by IDIAP Research Institute for BCI Competition 2003. Three different mental tasks based on motor imagery are performed in these sessions. The data have been processed and tested with the classifier to obtain the optimal success rate and reliability. To that end, the optimization protocol has been applied to select the suitable parameters for the classification. The results are very satisfactory and prove that this kind of classification can be successfully introduced in a real time BCI.