Browsing by Author "Battaglia, Edoardo"

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    A Review of Intent Detection, Arbitration, and Communication Aspects of Shared Control for Physical Human–Robot Interaction
    (ASME, 2018) Losey, Dylan P.; McDonald, Craig G.; Battaglia, Edoardo; O’Malley, Marcia K.
    As robotic devices are applied to problems beyond traditional manufacturing and industrial settings, we find that interaction between robots and humans, especially physical interaction, has become a fast developing field. Consider the application of robotics in healthcare, where we find telerobotic devices in the operating room facilitating dexterous surgical procedures, exoskeletons in the rehabilitation domain as walking aids and upper-limb movement assist devices, and even robotic limbs that are physically integrated with amputees who seek to restore their independence and mobility. In each of these scenarios, the physical coupling between human and robot, often termed physical human robot interaction (pHRI), facilitates new human performance capabilities and creates an opportunity to explore the sharing of task execution and control between humans and robots. In this review, we provide a unifying view of human and robot sharing task execution in scenarios where collaboration and cooperation between the two entities are necessary, and where the physical coupling of human and robot is a vital aspect. We define three key themes that emerge in these shared control scenarios, namely, intent detection, arbitration, and feedback. First, we explore methods for how the coupled pHRI system can detect what the human is trying to do, and how the physical coupling itself can be leveraged to detect intent. Second, once the human intent is known, we explore techniques for sharing and modulating control of the coupled system between robot and human operator. Finally, we survey methods for informing the human operator of the state of the coupled system, or the characteristics of the environment with which the pHRI system is interacting. At the conclusion of the survey, we present two case studies that exemplify shared control in pHRI systems, and specifically highlight the approaches used for the three key themes of intent detection, arbitration, and feedback for applications of upper limb robotic rehabilitation and haptic feedback from a robotic prosthesis for the upper limb.
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    The Rice Haptic Rocker: Skin stretch haptic feedback with the Pisa/IIT SoftHand
    (IEEE, 2017) Battaglia, Edoardo; Clark, Janelle P.; Bianchi, Matteo; Catalano, Manuel G.; Bicchi, Antonio; O’Malley, Marcia K.
    Myoelectric prostheses have seen increased application in clinical practice and research, due to their potential for good functionality and versatility. Yet, myoelectric prostheses still suffer from a lack of intuitive control and haptic feedback, which can frustrate users and lead to abandonment. To address this problem, we propose to convey proprioceptive information for a prosthetic hand with skin stretch using the Rice Haptic Rocker. This device was integrated with the myo-controlled version of Pisa/IIT SoftHand and a size discrimination test with 18 able bodied subjects was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Results show that the Rice Haptic Rocker can be successfully used to convey proprioceptive information. A Likert survey was also presented to the experiment participants, who evaluated the integrated setup as easy to use and effective in conveying proprioception.