Active Support System Research Articles

機能的電気刺激を用いた人―機械のバイラテラル制御

Recently, human activity support systems by remote control of robots have been developed. Bilateral control is an effective control system of teleoperation because it can transmit the information of position and force. However, it is difficult to design multi-degree-of-freedom wearing robots that have used in previous studies. It can be solved by using functional electrical stimulation (FES) in the teleoperation system. On the other hand, there are only few studies of human-machine bilateral control systems using FES and they are not sufficient because the control systems have not been compared. This paper considers bilateral control systems using FES through comparative analysis.

Coordinated control strategy for robotic-assisted gait training with partial body weight support

Walking is the most basic and essential part of the activities of daily living. To enable the elderly and non-ambulatory gait-impaired patients, the repetitive practice of this task, a novel gait training robot (GTR) was designed followed the end-effector principle, and an active partial body weight support (PBWS) system was introduced to facilitate successful gait training. For successful establishment of a walking gait on the GTR with PBWS, the motion laws of the GTR were planned to enable the phase distribution relationships of the cycle step, and the center of gravity (COG) trajectory of the human body during gait training on the GTR was measured. A coordinated control strategy was proposed based on the impedance control principle. A robotic prototype was developed as a platform for evaluating the design concepts and control strategies. Preliminary gait training with a healthy subject was implemented by the robotic-assisted gait training system and the experimental results are encouraging.

認知症高齢者を対象としたボランティア活動の課題と支援体制についての検討

認知症高齢者を対象としたボランティア活動の課題と支援体制についての検討

Developing a Mobile Lower Limb Robotic Exoskeleton for Gait Rehabilitation

A new compact mobile lower limb robotic exoskeleton (MLLRE) has been developed for gait rehabilitation for neurologically impaired patients. This robotic exoskeleton is composed of two exoskeletal orthoses, an active body weight support (BWS) system attached to a motorized mobile base, allowing over-ground walking. The exoskeletal orthosis is optimized to implement the extension and flexion of human hip and knee joints in the sagittal plane. The motor-driven BWS system can actively unload human body weight and track the vertical displacement of the center of mass (COM). This system is compact and easy for therapist to help patient with different weight (up to 100 kg) and height (150–190 cm). Experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of the robot with a healthy subject. The results show that MLLRE is a useful device for patient to achieve normal over-ground gait patterns.

Haptic Steering Support for Driving Near the Vehicle's Handling Limits: Test-Track Case

Current vehicle dynamic control systems from simple yaw control to high-end active steering support systems are designed to primarily actuate on the vehicle itself, rather than stimulate the driver to adapt his/her inputs for better vehicle control. The driver though dictates the vehicle's motion, and centralizing him/her in the control loop is hypothesized to promote safety and driving pleasure. Exploring the above statement, the goal of this paper is to develop and evaluate a haptic steering support when driving near the vehicle's handling limits [Haptic Support near the Limits (HSNL)]. The support aims to promote the driver's perception of the vehicle's behavior and handling capacity (the vehicle's internal model) by providing haptic cues on the steering wheel. The HSNL has been evaluated in a test track where 17 test subjects drove around a narrow-twisting tarmac circuit, a vehicle (Opel Astra G/B) equipped with a steering system able to provide variable steering feedback torque. The drivers were instructed to achieve maximum velocity through corners while receiving haptic steering feedback cues related to the vehicle's cornering potentials. The test-track tests led to the conclusion that haptic support reduced drivers' mental and physical demand without affecting their driving performance.

Task analysis of human-in-the-loop tele-operated maintenance: What can be learned from JET?

Remote maintenance will determine the available uptime of future fusion plants such as ITER. Experience at predecessor JET showed that a human-in-the-loop tele-operated approach is crucial, although this approach entails drawbacks such as the unavoidable extensive operator training and relatively long execution times. These drawbacks are common knowledge, but little quantitative research is available to guide improvements (such as improved training methods, or active operator support systems). The aim of this paper is to identify the key areas for further improvement of tele-operated maintenance. This is achieved by a detailed task analysis based on recent maintenance at JET, using task logbooks and video data as well as interviews with experienced master–slave operators. The resulting task analysis shows the (sub)tasks that were most time-consuming and shows a large variance in time performance within operators, but also substantial differences between qualified operators with different levels of experience. The operator interviews indicate that intuitive (virtual) visual feedback and artificial (guiding) forces are promising directions for improvement. The results found in this study will be used for future research and development activities focusing on haptic guiding strategies, with the aim to further design and optimize RH maintenance systems for ITER and beyond.

Research on Piston Design in Mechanical Engineering with Development of Support System Based on ANSYS

According to the complexity and the loss of experts’ experience and long designers’ learning process of finite element analysis of compressor piston, the design of active knowledge support system based on ANSYS in the design of piston are developed. The system sets of expert experience and design skills in one, can make full use of push-pull technology and push technology for knowledge provide targeted knowledge assistance to the designers of different levels, experience knowledge inheritance is implemented, improving the sharing of experience and knowledge, the learning process knowledge is greatly reduced, truly achieve the high-end design software low starting point for the purpose of application.

Haptic steering support for driving near the vehicle’s handling limits; skid-pad case

Current vehicle dynamic control systems from simple yaw control to high-end active steering support systems are designed to primarily actuate on the vehicle itself, rather than stimulate the driver to adapt his/her inputs for better vehicle control. The driver though dictates the vehicle’s motion, and centralizing him/her in the control loop is hypothesized to promote safety and driving pleasure. Exploring the above statement, the goal of this study is to develop and evaluate a haptic steering support when driving near the vehicle’s handling limits (Haptic Support Near the Limits; HSNL). The support aims to promote the driver’s perception of the vehicle’s behaviour and handling capacity (the vehicle’s internal model) by providing haptic (torque) cues on the steering wheel. The HSNL has been evaluated in (a) driving simulator tests and (b) tests with a vehicle (Opel Astra G/B) equipped with a variable steering feedback torque system. Drivers attempted to achieve maximum velocity while trying to retain control in a circular skid-pad. In the simulator (a) 25 subjects drove a vehicle model parameterised as the Astra on a dry skid-pad while in (b) 17 subjects drove the real Astra on a wet skid-pad. Both the driving simulator and the real vehicle tests led to the conclusion that the HSNL assisted subjects to drive closer to the designated path while achieving effectively the same speed. With the HSNL the drivers operated the tires in smaller slip angles and hence avoided saturation of the front wheels’ lateral forces and excessive understeer. Finally, the HSNL reduced their mental and physical demand.

Facilitating Social Activity Organization by Mining Human Interaction History

Nowadays, people in the physical world are getting involved into various kinds of social activities, such as meetings, discussions, and journeys, etc. Followed by this is the increase of user’s contacts list and the high cost on the social activity organization and activity group formation. In order to improve the efficiency of social activity organization and promote the interaction between people, we propose a mobile social activity support system based on social topology mining of the interaction history and mobile sensing. Two methods are used to recommend friends (known friends and new friends) for a certain activity. For the known-friend recommendation approach, people can get group recommendation by analyzing the interaction history and real-time contexts. For the new-friend recommendation approach, we detect the community structure of the social topology and calculate user similarity to recommend new friends. The algorithms for group formation and group recommendation are presented. We have also implemented a prototype system based on it. Experimental results verify the effect of the proposed approaches.

4 m SiC轻量化主镜的主动支撑系统

As the SiC lightweight primary mirror in a 4 m photoelectric telescope has high specific stiffness and needs strict surface precision, this paper proposes an axial active support system based on the hydraulic whiffletree passive support for the primary mirror. The hydraulic whiffletree support system was used to support the mirror weight, and the active support was just output active forces to correct mirror surface errors, reduce the active force range and to increase the precision of active force. A 54-point axial support system and a 24-point lateral support system were optimized by the Finite Element Method (FEM), and the parameter of lateral force was 0.5. With the hydraulic passive support system, the mirror surface deformation Root Mean Square (RMS) values from the gravity of the primary mirror are 37.8 nm and 82.9 nm respectively under horizontal and vertical states. After active correction, the mirror surface error RMS values are reduced to 12.0 nm and 9.8 nm accordingly. Analysis indicates that the mirror surface deformation of 4 m SiC lightweight primary mirror at different pitch angles is less than /30(=632.8 nm) and meets the requirements of surface errors.

Total Design of Active Neck Support System for Economy Class Aircraft Seat

Travel by air with long hours will create discomfort feeling for aircraft passenger especially economy class aircraft passenger. Long hour air travel will create physiological stress on aircraft passenger. It may due to seat space limitation, noise, vibration, cabin humidity as well as seat comfort. Seat comfort is a subjective feeling that related to psychological aspect of aircraft passenger. The current aircraft passenger seat is equipped with a passive function where the passenger themselves needs to adjust the seat for comfort seating position. The aircraft passenger will not able to adjust the seat when the aircraft passenger is in the low activity condition. The active seat support system was developed to support the aircraft passenger actively. The first prototype of active seat support system is focus on neck section. The head position of the aircraft seat was embedded with the system to detect the head position of the passenger. During the development of the active seat support system, total design technique was used. Five conceptual designs were generated for selection. To determine the final design of active neck support system, the matrix evaluation method was used. The weight of the concept was obtained through weight analysis.

장애인활동지원제도에 대한 한·일 비교 연구

This study aims to reduce the burden of the family, but also improve their quality of life by supporting the independent living of the Disabled. Comparison consideration of a Korean the Disabled activity support system and the independence support system of Japan was carried out. First, the perspective is a discussion on the contents of Disabled activity support system. Second, Gilbert & Terrells four choices of the dimension of policy analysis framework (allocation, provision, delivery, financial) and Howard & Davids policy of social we lfare policy analysis (policy goals, economic feasibility, and administrative feasibility)has been investigated. Third, Furukawa administrative principle of the social welfare aspects (effectiveness, the right, universality, justice, comprehensive) to find the implications of the system. Disabled activity support system performed earlier than in Korea, Japan, and compares the system, and highlighted the need to investigate the issues on the enforcement of the study has significance. First, the implications of this study to provide the right to make a living through self-services provide for the welfare needs of disabled and activity support system. Second, through the expansion of welfare services and facilities for the effect of the enforcement system that is independent of the type of disability, age and grade, and emphasize fairness should clarify. Third, organic services provided through, there is a need to emphasize the universality of the system to reduce the establishment of the operating system and service that can not be disabled.

Performance comparison between two axial active support schemes for 1-m thin meniscus primary mirror

Active support scheme may decide the deformation of the optical surface figure of the primary mirror. Two main active axial support schemes are often adopted to the thin meniscus primary mirror, one scheme is that the axial supports normal to the mirror bottom surface, and the other is that the active forces parallel to the optical axis. In order to compare the performance of the two support schemes, 1-m thin meniscus primary mirror is conducted. Finite element analysis (FEA) is employed to analyze the optical surface figures of the primary mirror, and optimizations are carried out by using ANSYS for each support scheme to obtain the locations and active forces. The axial support force sensitivities are calculated for the two support schemes in a case that a single axial support has a force error of 0.5 N. The correction ability of the active support system for both of the support schemes are analyzed when an arbitrary axial support is failure. Several low order Zernike modes are modeled with MATLAB procedure, and active optics corrections are applied to these modes for the two active supports. The extra mirror surface error due to thermal deformation is also corrected with the two support schemes.

A New Active Body Weight Support System Capable of Virtually Offloading Partial Body Mass

This paper presents a novel active body weight support (BWS) method, which is capable of virtually offloading full or partial body mass for a potential application of enhancing treadmill-based locomotion rehabilitation. The mass-offloading capability is realized by actively compensating a desired amount of body weight and inertia force using an acceleration-feedback scheme. The method has been studied by dynamics simulations and a specially designed nonhuman experiment. In the simulation study, the human and the BWS device were modeled as a multibody dynamical system interacting dynamically with the treadmill. The ground reaction forces were recorded as the dynamic load on the person. A cam-slider-based experiment was designed and conducted to test the engineering feasibility of the mass-offloading capability. Both the simulation and experiment results demonstrated that the BWS system can compensate any desired amount of gravity force and inertia force and, therefore, has the effect of virtually reducing the mass of a person attached to the system.

Implementation of active support in Victoria, Australia: An exploratory study

Background Active support is an effective intervention to support engagement of residents with intellectual disability in group homes. This survey explored resident characteristics of the people supported by organisations implementing active support, the provision of active support, its procedures and systems, and resident engagement in meaningful activity and relationships.Method Information was collected through questionnaires and direct observation of 33 group homes from 6 organisations in Victoria, Australia, with a 5–10-year history of implementing active support.Results Residents with lower support needs were engaged with little staff contact or assistance. Use of active support systems and structures was mixed. Only one organisation consistently provided good active support.Conclusions Administrative systems and structures are not sufficient to change staff interaction and thus resident experience. Shared supported accommodation services may represent an inefficient use of resources for more able residents, as staff resources are not maximised to support for resident engagement.

Active support system for 1-m SONG primary mirror

Chinese-node telescope of Stellar Observations Network Group (SONG) has a primary mirror 1m in diameter with flat back, which will be supported actively. The performance evaluation of the telescope's active optics system is conducted. Finite element analysis (FEA) is employed to analyze the optical surface figures of the primary mirror, and two optimizations are carried out by using ANSYS: (1) the locations and forces of axial supports are optimized with the telescope pointing to zenith; (2) the lateral support forces are calculated with the telescope pointing to horizon. Axial support force sensitivities are calculated in a case that a single axial support has a force error of 0.5N. The correction ability of the active support system is analyzed when an arbitrary axial support is failure. Several low order Zernike modes are modeled with MATLAB procedure, and active optics corrections are applied to these modes. Thermal deformation of the mirror is also corrected using active support system.

Extension Activity Support System (EASY): A Web-Based Prototype for Facilitating Farm Management

In response to disparate advances in delivering spatial information to support agricultural extension activities, the Extension Activity Support System (EASY) project was established to develop a vision statement and conceptual design for such a system based on a national needs assessment. Personnel from across Australia were consulted and a review of existing farm information/management software undertaken to ensure that any system that is eventually produced from the EASY vision will build on the strengths of existing efforts. This paper reports on the collaborative consultative process undertaken to create the EASY vision as well as the conceptual technical design and business models that could support a fully functional spatially enabled online system.

Novel combination of impella and extra corporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to full recovery in fulminant myocarditis.

A 31-year-old male was transferred to our hospital with severe heart failure due to viral myocarditis. He progressed to multiorgan failure requiring intubation and maximal doses of multiple vasopressors. Circulatory support was provided with an Impella device as a bridge to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) system. On full mechanical cardiovascular support, the patient's hemodynamic status improved and ECMO and Impella were explanted after 48 hours. Three days later, he was extubated and continued on to a full recovery. There are no specific therapies for fulminant myocarditis but first-line treatment is supportive care. ECMO is commonly used in patients with severe heart failure. In severe systolic dysfunction, left ventricular decompression is required to reduce myocardial wall stress, decrease myocardial oxygen requirements, and enhance the chances of recovery. The Impella, an active support system, is less invasive than classical decompressive techniques and is associated with lower requirements for blood products with fewer thromboembolic complications. This is the only case reported of the contemporary use of Impella and ECMO as a bridge to full recovery in an adult with myocarditis. It also presents a novel use of the Impella device in decompressing the left ventricle of an adult patient on ECMO.

발달장애 아동의 사회적 기술 향상을 위한 현장체험학습 지원 시스템의 설계 및 구현

In this thesis, a field experience activity support system is designed and implemented for improving social skills of children with developmental disabilities. The proposed system is designed to allow the students to experience various field activities around their local community. The proposed system has the following characteristics. First, it can improve effectiveness of field experience by providing very practical pre-study information to students. Second, the systems provides very practical and real-world problem-solving abilities rather than providing simple experience and superficial information. Third, the system allows students to change the contents according to their local community environments and purpose of use. Fourth, the system can be used as education for living at home as well as field experience study at schools. After applying the proposed system to students with developmental disabilities, the following positive results are obtained. First, the system have good effect on students with severe developmental disabilities when the system is used for prestudy. Specially those students are highly interested and motivated on study subjects. Second, at real field experience study place, students are well adapted and are very interested in their activities. Third, in the light of post-evaluation after field experience, it is reported that lots of study contents remain in their memory.

Supporting community-based exercise in long-term neurological conditions: experience from the Long-term Individual Fitness Enablement (LIFE) project

Background: Patients with long-term neurological conditions often have low levels of physical activity and participation in exercise. Exercise referral schemes have been introduced in the UK to encourage physical activity in sedentary and clinical populations but typically exclude patients with long-term neurological conditions. We have developed and evaluated an exercise support system for people with long-term neurological disability, called the Physical Activity Support System, to enable them to use local gym facilities safely and effectively. The intervention: We describe the Physical Activity Support System for people with long-term neurological conditions and provide data on the use of this system in a phase II randomized controlled study trial. The system has five key components: access and transport advice, the fitness instructor, the gym, health professional support and how to exercise safely. Results: Ninety-nine patients with a range of long-term neurological conditions used six different community exercise facilities in Oxfordshire and Birmingham. Average gym attendance was one session per week for 12 weeks. Participants required an average of three 1-hour face-to-face physiotherapy contacts to achieve this. The average direct cost for the support system was £275. Conclusions: The scheme achieved comparable exercise participation to standard GP exercise referral schemes operating in the same centres and offers a relatively cheap, practical and feasible system for supporting people with long-term neurological conditions.