Walking feeds pressure to pneumatic robots that could help those with disabilities, extra limb able to grasp objects and go.
Everybody could use a third arm sometimes, but for some it would be particularly helpful.
Mechanical engineers at Rice University’s George R. Brown School of Engineering have built a handy extra limb able to grasp objects and go, powered only by compressed air. It’s one of several ideas they’ve implemented with a textile-based energy harvesting system.
The proof-of-principle robotic devices designed and built by Daniel Preston, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, lead authors Rachel Shveda and Anoop Rajappan and their team are geared toward those living with disabilities and are tough enough for everyday use, they said.
How the project described in Science Advances utilizes air differs from the Preston lab’s now-famous manipulation of dead spiders as grabbers. These pneumatic devices derive their power from walking.
The prototype “arm” is a piece of fabric that hugs the body when not in use, but extends outward when activated and incorporates an elastomer lining on the surface to maintain its grip on slippery objects. For demonstrations, Rice alumna Shveda, now an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, would operate the arm with a switch. Preston said future versions could have sensors that anticipate the wearer’s intent and complete the movement.
In addition to the curling arm that can grip a cup or other small objects while one’s hands are full, the Rice lab built a shirt with a bellows-like actuator attached at the armpit that expands, enabling the wearer to pick up a 10-pound object. Testing the apparel on a mannequin showed it could do so without an assist from human muscles.
“Census statistics say there are about 25 million adults in the United States who find it difficult to lift 10 pounds with their arms,” says Rajappan, a postdoc supported by the Rice Academy of Fellows. “That’s something we commonly do in our daily lives, picking up household objects or even a baby.”
The system requires two components: textile pumps embedded in the soles of walking shoes that harvest air pressure and pneumatic actuators that make use of that pressure where needed. The pumps are filled with open-cell polyurethane foam that allows them to recover their shape after every footfall.
Preston said the pump is small enough to be comfortable. “The stiffness of the foam is about on par with a typical shoe insert,” he says. “We wanted to make sure this felt like something you'd actually want to have inside of your shoe.”
Tests by the Rice lab showed the devices produce the equivalent of 3 watts of power with a conversion efficiency of more than 20%, easily outperforming electromagnetic, piezoelectric and triboelectric strategies for foot-strike energy harvesting, including one designed by students at Rice’s Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen.
Preston said all the components for a single device cost the lab about $20. The products were simple to assemble and robust enough to be cleaned in a washing machine with no degradation in performance.
“The fabrication approach uses techniques that are already employed in the garment industry, things like cutting textile sheets and bonding them with heat and pressure,” he says. ‘We're ready to think about translating our work towards products.”
Rajappan said that along with test units, the lab also developed mathematical models to predict how well an assistive device would perform based on a user’s weight and walking speed, among other parameters. “One way to take this forward will be to use the model to optimize performance for specific user groups,” he says.
“We’re also thinking about devices like pneumatic actuators that apply therapeutic compression for things like deep vein thrombosis, blood clots in the legs,” Rajappan says. “Anything that requires air pressure can be powered by our system.”
“Now that we’re providing the power, we can tap into all the existing work on actuation,” Preston adds. “This would include things like gloves that help people close their hands, assistance at both the elbow and shoulder joints and other devices that still rely on typically rigid and bulky power supplies that are either uncomfortable or require being tethered to external infrastructure.”
He noted conversations with fashion consultants could be in his future, to keep wearers from resembling the Michelin Man.
“We’ve managed to keep it quite low profile, but yes, that’s definitely something to think about, especially with the actuators,” Preston says.
Co-authors are graduate students Te Faye Yap, Zhen Liu, Marquise Bell and Barclay Jumet of Rice and Vanessa Sanchez of Harvard University.
The National Science Foundation (2144809, 1842494) supported the research.
Discover the potential of 5G.
About the presentation 5G is much more than a network – it’s a platform for innovation with the ability to provide global scale and enable manufacturing use cases we haven’t even dreamed of. And through the adoption of 5G a new tool is introduced into the lean manufacturing toolbox – taking lean production into the age of digitalization.
The limitless connectivity of 5G enables lean manufacturing processes through smart factories and the ability to take advantage of technologies such as automation, digital twins, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and the Internet of Things (IoT). The low latency, high reliability, and increased speed of 5G are essential to support emerging technologies such as process automation, remote monitoring, and collaborative robots.
5G also allows for higher flexibility, lower cost, and shorter lead times for factory floor production reconfiguration, layout changes, and alterations, which will result in significant production improvements. And the great thing is, 5G isn’t only a promise of the future, it’s already an enabler for existing ways of working when it comes to lean production.
In this session, you’ll learn how 5G’s capacity to handle massive amounts of data with low latency supports lean methodologies in a powerful way, unlocking new value, and taking lean concepts beyond the factory.
Meet your presenter Sebastian Elmgren has a master’s degree in automation and mechatronics. He’s worked for Ericsson for the last 15 years, the first 10 years within the supply organization in different positions driving improvement and smart manufacturing initiatives. Now Elmgren helps Ericsson’s customers adopt 5G technology with initial responsibilities focused on manufacturing as the head of business development and product marketing, dedicated networks.
About the company Ericsson is a provider of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to service providers. We enable the full value of connectivity by creating game-changing technology and services that are easy to use, adopt, and scale, making our customers successful in a fully connected world.
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Meet your presenter Gilles Le Quilleuc serves as head of business general industry & food at Stäubli Robotics and is responsible for the strategic development and growth of the robotics activity in these industries for North America. He started his career at Stäubli in 2001. He held several engineering and technical management positions including Italy robotics division manager and executive committee member. In 2017, Le Quilleuc became the director of sales and business development of Stäubli Robotics North America. He has a Bachelor of Applied Science in BASc, electrical and electronics engineering from the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers.
John Burke serves as regional sales manager of Stäubli Robotics. He joined Stäubli in 2015 and is responsible for robotic project management and sales in the food, semiconductor, metal, and automotive industries. Burke has more than 20 years of experience in the automation industry, and seven years of experience in robotics. He has a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the NC State University.
About the company Stäubli is a global mechatronics solution provider with four dedicated divisions: electrical connectors, fluid connectors, robotics and textile, serving customers who want to increase their productivity in many industrial sectors. We’re an international group operating in 29 countries, with agents in 50 countries on four continents. Our workforce of 5,500 shares a commitment to partnering with customers in nearly every industry to provide comprehensive solutions with long-term support. Originally founded in 1892 as a small workshop in Horgen/Zurich, today Stäubli is an international group headquartered in Pfäffikon, Switzerland.
The scale monitors heart function and fluid status.
The Bodyport Cardiac Scale received U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance. The solution enables people with fluid management conditions, such as heart failure and kidney disease, to noninvasively assess measures of heart function and fluid status in the same step they measure weight.
More than 6 million adults in the United States have heart failure, costing an estimated $30.7 billion annually and causing 12 million clinic visits and 1.2 million hospitalizations each year. More than 90% of these hospitalizations are due to hemodynamic changes resulting in fluid accumulation. Weight monitoring is the noninvasive standard of care for detecting fluid changes in patients with heart failure. However, weight gain is a late sign of worsening status, and typically doesn’t provide enough warning to prevent hospitalization. Until now, patients and their medical teams haven’t had simple, noninvasive devices to measure earlier signs of worsening fluid status in the home.
“As we bring this easy-to-use, noninvasive solution to market, we look to dramatically improve how patients with heart failure are currently managed. Patients with heart failure and their caregivers have few options outside of a standard weight scale or a costly and invasive implant,” said John Lipman, CEO of Bodyport. “The comprehensive health assessment from the Cardiac Scale provides metric-driven, personalized care to those in need. This FDA 510(k) clearance is an important milestone, allowing us to expand access in support of our goal to keep people with fluid management conditions healthier and out of the hospital.”
The Cardiac Scale is designed to integrate into a patient’s daily life. Each time a person steps on the Cardiac Scale, advanced sensors and algorithms measure key hemodynamic biomarkers. The device sends these data over a cellular network to care teams, providing a window into patient status that enables efficient and effective care.
“Successful heart failure management requires frequent access to meaningful information, such as fluid status, that is sometimes difficult to gauge by both providers and our patients,” said Dr. Michael Fong, co-founder of the Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy Clinic, Keck Medical Center of USC. “During our clinical study using the Bodyport Cardiac Scale, we found patients more engaged, and our clinical team better empowered to make timely, individualized treatment adjustments to get ahead of changes in a patient’s condition before they worsen. We are excited about what we saw in the study; the interventions this has led to for some of our patients, and the potential impact it will have for our entire heart disease population.”
More than 10 hospitals and healthcare systems across the United States have participated in Bodyport’s clinical studies. The company plans to roll out the technology more broadly later this year.
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Meet your presenter Scott Comroe is part of the technical sales and engineering team with a specific focus in data center/cloud and network connectivity solutions for the AT&T manufacturing vertical in the US and Asia. Comroe is based in Dallas, Texas. He’s been with AT&T since 1987 and has been recognized by the company numerous times throughout his career, winning multiple Leaders/Diamond Council awards, 11 Circle of Excellence awards, and several other awards. Comroe holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing management from San Diego State University, is a GSEC Global Security Certified Associate, and is Akamai CDN and Security certified among other internal AT&T technology and business certifications.
About the company AT&T Inc. (AT&T) is a provider of telecommunications, media, and technology services. The company offers wireless communications, data/broadband and internet services, local and long-distance telephone services, telecommunications equipment, managed networking, and wholesale services. AT&T also develops, produces, and distributes feature films, television, gaming, and content in physical and digital formats. It provides advertisement and entertainment services to household customers. The company serves individual customers and business enterprises, and markets services under various brands, including AT&T, Cricket, SKY, AT&T TV, AT&T PREPAID, AT&T Fiber, and Unefon.