TY - CHAP
T1 - Design and Validation of a Wearable Robotic Tail for Human Balance Support
AU - Anwar, Eisa
AU - Abeywardena, Sajeeva
AU - Miller, Stuart C.
AU - Farkhatdinov, Ildar
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 IEEE.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Taking inspiration from the natural world, where some animals utilise tails for balance, this paper presents a Supernumerary Robotic Limb (SRL), in this case a wearable robotic tail, to support human balance. We showcase the modelling, design, manufacturing, and testing of the tail. It is mounted to a wearable harness, allowing for fast setup and easy don and doffing, i.e. attachment and removal. The tail's rotation is determined by the distance of a carried load from the user's body, with actuating motors serving the dual purpose of controlling the tail and acting as the counterbalance. This characteristic gives a higher counterweight to overall weight ratio when compared to related devices. Testing has demonstrated an accuracy of 89 % in position control and a rapid 57 ms response time. In trials with a healthy human participant, the system assists with balance, resulting in a 59 % smaller displacement of Centre of Pressure (CoP) when lifting a weight, contributing to better balance and safer posture. Wearable robotic systems such as this tail have the potential to be used in industries where manual labour often involves lifting heavy objects or adopting awkward postures.
AB - Taking inspiration from the natural world, where some animals utilise tails for balance, this paper presents a Supernumerary Robotic Limb (SRL), in this case a wearable robotic tail, to support human balance. We showcase the modelling, design, manufacturing, and testing of the tail. It is mounted to a wearable harness, allowing for fast setup and easy don and doffing, i.e. attachment and removal. The tail's rotation is determined by the distance of a carried load from the user's body, with actuating motors serving the dual purpose of controlling the tail and acting as the counterbalance. This characteristic gives a higher counterweight to overall weight ratio when compared to related devices. Testing has demonstrated an accuracy of 89 % in position control and a rapid 57 ms response time. In trials with a healthy human participant, the system assists with balance, resulting in a 59 % smaller displacement of Centre of Pressure (CoP) when lifting a weight, contributing to better balance and safer posture. Wearable robotic systems such as this tail have the potential to be used in industries where manual labour often involves lifting heavy objects or adopting awkward postures.
KW - Biologically-Inspired Robots
KW - Body-Balancing
KW - Human Performance Augmentation
KW - Physical Human-Robot Interaction
KW - Physically Assistive Devices
KW - Wearable Robots
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85205468287&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/BioRob60516.2024.10719748
DO - 10.1109/BioRob60516.2024.10719748
M3 - Conference paper
AN - SCOPUS:85205468287
T3 - Proceedings of the IEEE RAS and EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics
SP - 895
EP - 900
BT - 2024 10th IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference for Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, BioRob 2024
PB - IEEE Computer Society
T2 - 10th IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference for Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, BioRob 2024
Y2 - 1 September 2024 through 4 September 2024
ER -
