Physical Interface Research Articles

A Systematic Review on Rigid Exoskeleton Robot Design for Wearing Comfort: Joint Self-Alignment, Attachment Interface, and Structure Customization.

Exoskeleton robots enable individuals with impaired physical functions to perform daily activities and maintain independence. However, the discomfort experienced by users when using these devices may limit the application scope of exoskeleton robots. Therefore, this paper systematically defines and analyzes the key design factors affecting the wearing comfort of rigid exoskeleton robots by differentiating and discussing the characteristics of traditional exoskeleton robots and exoskeleton robots equipped with the self-alignment mechanism based on addressing misalignment issues. Furthermore, the various structural configurations of the Physical Human-Robot Attachment Interface (PHRAI) and related quantitative evaluation indicators are explored in depth, and the advantages and limitations of structural customized design methods combining parametric design, Three-Dimensional (3D) scanning, and 3D printing technology are evaluated. Finally, the current concerns in the research field and potential solution strategies are proposed, aiming to provide directional guidance to optimize future exoskeleton robots. The research findings are of significant value for enhancing the comfort of wearing exoskeleton robots and provide valuable theoretical and practical references for future research.

Mechanically accelerated catalytic hydrogenation: correlating physical state, reaction rate, and interface area

This study thoroughly examines the role of mechanochemistry in organic synthesis by analysing the factors affecting the mechanochemical reduction process of unsaturated and oxidized compounds.

Human-Robot Joint Misalignment, Physical Interaction, and Gait Kinematic Assessment in Ankle-Foot Orthoses.

Lower limb exoskeletons and orthoses have been increasingly used to assist the user during gait rehabilitation through torque transmission and motor stability. However, the physical human-robot interface (HRi) has not been properly addressed. Current orthoses lead to spurious forces at the HRi that cause adverse effects and high abandonment rates. This study aims to assess and compare, in a holistic approach, human-robot joint misalignment and gait kinematics in three fixation designs of ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs). These are AFOs with a frontal shin guard (F-AFO), lateral shin guard (L-AFO), and the ankle modulus of the H2 exoskeleton (H2-AFO). An experimental protocol was implemented to assess misalignment, fixation displacement, pressure interactions, user-perceived comfort, and gait kinematics during walking with the three AFOs. The F-AFO showed reduced vertical misalignment (peak of 1.37 ± 0.90 cm, p-value < 0.05), interactions (median pressures of 0.39-3.12 kPa), and higher user-perceived comfort (p-value < 0.05) when compared to H2-AFO (peak misalignment of 2.95 ± 0.64 and pressures ranging from 3.19 to 19.78 kPa). F-AFO also improves the L-AFO in pressure (median pressures ranging from 8.64 to 10.83 kPa) and comfort (p-value < 0.05). All AFOs significantly modified hip joint angle regarding control gait (p-value < 0.01), while the H2-AFO also affected knee joint angle (p-value < 0.01) and gait spatiotemporal parameters (p-value < 0.05). Overall, findings indicate that an AFO with a frontal shin guard and a sports shoe is effective at reducing misalignment and pressure at the HRI, increasing comfort with slight changes in gait kinematics.

A discrete fracture-matrix approach based on Petrov-Galerkin immersed finite element for fractured porous media flow on nonconforming mesh

In this paper, the Petrov-Galerkin immersed finite element method is developed for simulating flow in fractured porous media. We consider the hybrid-dimensional fracture model as an elliptic interface problem with multiple physical coupling interface conditions, and embed the information of low-dimensional fractures into the local functions of interface elements. The immersed finite element space is constructed by explicitly representing the local solution functions in the interface element. This approach addresses the limitation of conforming meshes. More importantly, it can capture both the continuity and discontinuity of pressure, making it effective for both conductive and blocking fractures. We provide a detailed illustration of how to construct local functions on triangular and rectangular meshes. Finally, numerical examples and benchmarks are presented to validate the effectiveness of our proposed method.

Searches for beyond-standard-model physics with astroparticle physics instruments

Many instruments for astroparticle physics are primarily geared towards multi-messenger astrophysics, to study the origin of cosmic rays and to understand high-energy astrophysical processes. Since these instruments observe the Universe at extreme energies and in kinematic ranges not accessible at accelerators these experiments provide also unique and complementary opportunities to search for particles and physics beyond the standard model of particle physics. In particular, the reach of IceCube, Fermi and KATRIN to search for and constrain Dark Matter, Axions, heavy Big Bang relics, sterile neutrinos and Lorentz invariance violation will be discussed. The contents of this article are based on material presented at the Humboldt–Kolleg ‘Clues to a mysterious Universe—exploring the interface of particle, gravity and quantum physics’ in June 2022. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The particle-gravity frontier’.

Quantum simulation for partial differential equations with physical boundary or interface conditions

This paper explores the feasibility of quantum simulation for partial differential equations (PDEs) with physical boundary or interface conditions. Semi-discretization of such problems does not necessarily yield Hamiltonian dynamics and even alters the Hamiltonian structure of the dynamics when boundary and interface conditions are included. This seemingly intractable issue can be resolved by using a recently introduced Schrödingerisation method [1,2] – it converts any linear PDEs and ODEs with non-Hermitian dynamics to a system of Schrödinger equations, via the so-called warped phase transformation that maps the equation into one higher dimension. We implement this method for several typical problems, including the linear convection equation with inflow boundary conditions and the heat equation with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. For interface problems we study the (parabolic) Stefan problem, linear convection, and linear Liouville equations with discontinuous and even measure-valued coefficients. We perform numerical experiments to demonstrate the validity of this approach, which helps to bridge the gap between available quantum algorithms and computational models for classical and quantum dynamics with boundary and interface conditions.

Effects of drying method and oil type on edible polyunsaturated oleogels co-structured by hydroxylpropyl methyl cellulose and xanthan gum

The subtle balance between the interactions of polysaccharide molecules and the interactions of polysaccharide molecules with oil molecules is significantly important for developing polysaccharide-based polyunsaturated oleogels. Here, hydroxylpropyl methyl cellulose and xanthan gum were used to structure edible oleogels via emulsion-template methodology, while the effects of drying methods (hot-air drying (AD) and vacuum-freeze drying (FD)) and oil types (walnut, flaxseed and Moringa seed oil) on the structure, oil binding capacity (OBC), rheological properties, thermal behaviors and stability of oleogels were specially investigated. Compared with AD oleogels, FD oleogels exhibited significantly better OBC, enhanced gelation strength (G' value) and better capacity to holding oil after high temperature processing, which was attributed to the possibly increased oil-polysaccharide interactions. However, the weakened polysaccharide-polysaccharide interactions in FD oleogels failed in providing stronger physical interface or enough rigidity to restrict the migration of oil molecules. Polyunsaturated triacylglycerols in vegetable oils deeply participated in the construction of the network of AD oleogels through weak intermolecular non-covalent interactions, which in turn greatly changed the crystallization and melting behaviors of vegetables oils. In brief, this research may provide useful information for the development of polysaccharide-based polyunsaturated oil oleogels.

Recovering critical parameter for nonlinear Allen–Cahn equation by fully discrete continuous data assimilation algorithms *

The purpose of this study is to recover the diffuse interface width parameter for nonlinear Allen–Cahn equation by a continuous data assimilation algorithm proposed recently. We obtain the large-time error between the true solution of the Allen–Cahn equation and the data assimilated solution produced by implicit–explicit one-leg fully discrete finite element methods due to discrepancy between an approximate diffuse interface width and the physical interface width. The strongly A-stability of the one-leg methods plays key roles in proving the exponential decay of initial error. Based on the long-time error estimates, we develop several algorithms to recover both the true solution and the true diffuse interface width using only spatially discrete phase field function measurements. Numerical experiments confirm our theoretical results and verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Characteristics of physical reality, virtual reality, and interface in interactive digital communication experience

ABSTRACT Communication methods in fashion design have changed with the emergence of various devices and media in the digital environment, and combining fashion design with AI, IoT, and AR has increased in the wake of the 4th Industrial Revolution. This causes an expansion of fashion design, and interactive digital communication fashion design extends bodily experience from physical reality to virtual space. This study aimed to identify the experiential characteristics of physical reality, virtual reality, and interface for interactive digital communication and develop a measurement scale for each space. It used a Delphi method collecting opinions from industry, academic, and government experts through a questionnaire. The research findings offer a tool for measuring the characteristics of interactive digital communication fashion design experiences that allow a better understanding of the significance of the communication type in each space.

Converging Periodic Boundary Conditions and Detection of Topological Gaps on Regular Hyperbolic Tessellations.

Tessellations of the hyperbolic spaces by regular polygons support discrete quantum and classical models with unique spectral and topological characteristics. Resolving the true bulk spectra and the thermodynamic response functions of these models requires converging periodic boundary conditions and our Letter delivers a practical and rigorous solution for this open problem on generic {p,q}-tessellations. This enables us to identify the true spectral gaps of bulk Hamiltonians and construct all but one topological models that deliver the topological gaps predicted by the K theory of the lattices. We demonstrate the emergence of the expected topological spectral flows whenever two such bulk models are deformed into each other and prove the emergence of topological channels whenever a soft physical interface is created between different topological classes of Hamiltonians.

Approximate Global Energy Management Based on Macro–Micro Mixed Traffic Model for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

A multi-scale physical process management system is presented in this paper, taking the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle system as the physical interface connecting the macro traffic system to the micro energy conversion process, with the ultimate goal of global energy management in the full temporal–spatial domain for autonomous plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. This novel method adopts a macro traffic flow model at a large time scale, in which only the initial conditions and the traffic information of key road sections are required, and a car following model at the micro scale. Furthermore, local replanning of energy management is carried out by adjusting the power threshold and the efficiency weight through the type of reinforcement learning that is closest to human learning, once a short term speed disturbance is induced by unknown disturbances in the macro traffic flow. Due to the nonlinear relationship between speed fluctuation and power fluctuation, it is necessary to map the vehicle speed and acceleration characteristics to the power characteristics, instead of directly utilizing the traffic model characterized by the speed and acceleration characteristics. The results show that novel multi-scale physical management can achieve a smaller deviation from the global optimal solution and enhanced robustness of global energy management. Additionally, close coupling between the dynamic characteristics of vehicle components and speed fluctuation ensures correct tracking of the optimized target value.

Estrogenic regulation of claudin 5 and tight junction protein 1 gene expression in zebrafish: A role on blood-brain barrier?

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a physical interface between the blood and the brain parenchyma, playing key roles in brain homeostasis. In mammals, the BBB is established thanks to tight junctions between cerebral endothelial cells, involving claudin, occludin, and zonula occludens proteins. Estrogens have been documented to modulate BBB permeability. Interestingly, in the brain of zebrafish, the estrogen-synthesizing activity is strong due to the high expression of Aromatase B protein, encoded by the cyp19a1b gene, in radial glial cells (neural stem cells). Given the roles of estrogens in BBB function, we investigated their impact on the expression of genes involved in BBB tight junctions. We treated zebrafish embryos and adult males with 17β-estradiol and observed an increased cerebral expression of tight junction and claudin 5 genes in adult males only. In females, treatment with the nuclear estrogen receptor antagonist (ICI182,780 ) had no impact. Interestingly, telencephalic injuries performed in males decreased tight junction gene expression that was partially reversed with 17β-estradiol. This was further confirmed by extravasation experiments of Evans blue showing that estrogenic treatment limits BBB leakage. We also highlighted the intimate links between endothelial cells and neural stem cells, suggesting that cholesterol and peripheral steroids could be taken up by endothelial cells and used as precursors for estrogen synthesis by neural stem cells. Together, our results show that zebrafish provides an alternative model to further investigate the role of steroids on the expression of genes involved in BBB integrity, both in constitutive and regenerative physiological conditions. The link we described between capillaries endothelial cells and steroidogenic neural cells encourages the use of this model in understanding the mechanisms by which peripheral steroids get into neural tissue and modulate neurogenic activity.

Teleoperated Surgical Robot with Adaptive Interactive Control Architecture for Tissue Identification.

The remote perception of teleoperated surgical robotics has been a critical issue for surgeons in fulfilling their remote manipulation tasks. In this article, an adaptive teleoperation control framework is proposed. It provides a physical human-robot interaction interface to enhance the ability of the operator to intuitively perceive the material properties of remote objects. The recursive least square (RLS) is adopted to estimate the required human hand stiffness that the operator can achieve to compensate for the contact force. Based on the estimated stiffness, a force feedback controller is designed to avoid the induced motion and to convey the haptic information of the slave side. The passivity of the proposed teleoperation system is ensured by the virtual energy tank. A stable contact test validated that the proposed method achieved stable contact between the slave robot and the hard environment while ensuring the transparency of the force feedback. A series of human subject experiments was conducted to empirically verify that the proposed teleoperation framework can provide a more smooth, dexterous, and intuitive user experience with a more accurate perception of the mechanical property of the interacted material on the slave side, compared to the baseline method. After the experiment, the design idea about the force feedback controller of the bilateral teleoperation is discussed.

How to measure embodied intelligence?

Embodied intelligence (EI) summarizes design approaches that give robots efficient physical interaction with their surrounding environment. EI has, to date, found an extensive descriptive treatment yet lacks universal metrics. Could we quantify EI? What would be the EI analog to intelligence quotient (IQ) in humans? We first suggest an intelligent unit (intel-unit) as the smallest entity that displays program execution beyond simple stimuli-responsiveness. The emergence of EI by situatedness of encoded physical agents in an environment is explored in three case studies. First, an awn of a wild oat – a non-living structure in nature that satisfies all robot’s descriptions – is analyzed in terms of material-level intelligence. Next, a jocular quantitative scale found with a popular gadget – the ‘fortune teller fish’ – is given treatment in the EI context. Finally, the learned and summarized EI principles are tested on a well-known object with perceived intelligence yet lacking a consensual robotic description – a knitted woollen sweater. We confirm the necessity of treating environment interactions in expressions and definitions of EI, as situatedness is central in defining functionality. Universal metrics would identify non-intuitive representations of EI and lead from empirical to model-based design of unconventional robots. Robots that engage situatedness provide a physical interface to artificial intelligence, similar to our bodies communicating with our brains.

Variable mechanism of electrical impedance for MCT high voltage switch under synergetic action of the mechanical and electric loads

To study the electromechanical coupling effect of Metal Oxide Semiconductor Controlled Thyristor (MCT) high voltage switch under the synergistic action of mechanical load and strong voltage in the actual use of penetrating hard targets and launching, the universal testing machine was used to simulate the overload environment. The rising edge time, falling time and impedance changes in the conduction path of MCT under different stress–strain were tested, respectively. Experimental results showed that the rise time of MCT decreased from 0.08 ms to 0.03 ms when the uniaxial compressive stress increased from 1.20 MPa to 7.3 MPa, and the rising edge time after unloading was 0.04 ms. The falling time had no obvious change with the increase of stress. The total resistance in the path decreased from 833.30 Ω to 564.22 Ω with the increase of strain. The stress–strain of each part of MCT under different uniaxial compressive stress was collected by COMSOL Multiphysics finite element software. Based on the Schrödinger equation, the potential energy operator was established. By introducing the strain Hamiltonian H ε,ν , the E(k)-k model near the minimum value of the conduction band of Si was established by using the k·p perturbation method. Combined with the physical field interface of Schrödinger equation in COMSOL Multiphysics, the valence band structure of Si material under uniaxial strain was studied on the basis of strain Hamiltonian perturbation. The results showed that the 6-degree degenerate valley (Δ6) in the conduction band was split into a 2-degree degenerate valley (Δ2) and a 4-degree degenerate valley (Δ4) due to the stress effect. The strain caused more electrons to occupy the lower Δ4 energy valley, resulting in a decrease in the effective mass of the total conductivity. Therefore, the electron mobility of Si was increased under uniaxial strain. The uniaxial compressive stress could more effectively reduce the curvature radius of valence band top, the effective mass of carriers and the interband scattering between light and heavy hole bands, which was beneficial to improve the hole mobility.

A quantum physics layer of epigenetics: a hypothesis deduced from charge transfer and chirality-induced spin selectivity of DNA

BackgroundEpigenetic mechanisms are informational cellular processes instructing normal and diseased phenotypes. They are associated with DNA but without altering the DNA sequence. Whereas chemical processes like DNA methylation or histone modifications are well-accepted epigenetic mechanisms, we herein propose the existence of an additional quantum physics layer of epigenetics.ResultsWe base our hypothesis on theoretical and experimental studies showing quantum phenomena to be active in double-stranded DNA, even under ambient conditions. These phenomena include coherent charge transfer along overlapping pi-orbitals of DNA bases and chirality-induced spin selectivity. Charge transfer via quantum tunneling mediated by overlapping orbitals results in charge delocalization along several neighboring bases, which can even be extended by classical (non-quantum) electron hopping. Such charge transfer is interrupted by flipping base(s) out of the double-strand e.g., by DNA modifying enzymes. Charge delocalization can directly alter DNA recognition by proteins or indirectly by DNA structural changes e.g., kinking. Regarding sequence dependency, charge localization, shown to favor guanines, could influence or even direct epigenetic changes, e.g., modification of cytosines in CpG dinucleotides. Chirality-induced spin selectivity filters electrons for their spin along DNA and, thus, is not only an indicator for quantum coherence but can potentially affect DNA binding properties.ConclusionsQuantum effects in DNA are prone to triggering and manipulation by external means. By the hypothesis put forward here, we would like to foster research on “Quantum Epigenetics” at the interface of medicine, biology, biochemistry, and physics to investigate the potential epigenetic impact of quantum physical principles on (human) life.

Reputation and reciprocity.

Reputation and reciprocity are key mechanisms for cooperation in human societies, often going hand in hand to favor prosocial behavior over selfish actions. Here we review recent researches at the interface of physics and evolutionary game theory that explored these two mechanisms. We focus on image scoring as the bearer of reputation, as well as on various types of reciprocity, including direct, indirect, and network reciprocity. We review different definitions of reputation and reciprocity dynamics, and we show how these affect the evolution of cooperation in social dilemmas. We consider first-order, second-order, as well as higher-order models in well-mixed and structured populations, and we review experimental works that support and inform the results of mathematical modeling and simulations. We also provide a synthesis of the reviewed researches along with an outlook in terms of six directions that seem particularly promising to explore in the future.

Hybrid Liquid–Solid Composite Electrolytes for Sulfide‐Based Solid‐State Batteries: Advantages and Limitation

AbstractAll‐solid‐state batteries (SSBs) represent one of the most promising avenues for surpassing the energy density limitations of conventional lithium‐ion batteries. However, the unstable interfacial contact between the solid‐state electrolyte and the electrode poses a critical challenge for practical applications. To tackle this issue, a hybrid system incorporating both liquid electrolytes (LEs) and sulfide solid‐state electrolytes may serve as a viable alternative. In this hybrid system, the LE facilitates the in situ formation of a solid electrolyte interphase layer, thereby enhancing the physical interface contact. Consequently, the electrochemical lifetime of the hybrid all‐SSBs is significantly improved, as evidenced by the stable lithium plating behavior observed through analytical techniques such as in situ X‐ray imaging. Nonetheless, the hybrid system exhibits clear limitations, and several issues that need to be addressed for its practical implementation are identified. In conclusion, potential solutions that could be employed to overcome these challenges are proposed.

Uncertainty-aware automated assessment of the arm impedance with upper-limb exoskeletons.

Providing high degree of personalization to a specific need of each patient is invaluable to improve the utility of robot-driven neurorehabilitation. For the desired customization of treatment strategies, precise and reliable estimation of the patient's state becomes important, as it can be used to continuously monitor the patient during training and to document the rehabilitation progress. Wearable robotics have emerged as a valuable tool for this quantitative assessment as the actuation and sensing are performed on the joint level. However, upper-limb exoskeletons introduce various sources of uncertainty, which primarily result from the complex interaction dynamics at the physical interface between the patient and the robotic device. These sources of uncertainty must be considered to ensure the correctness of estimation results when performing the clinical assessment of the patient state. In this work, we analyze these sources of uncertainty and quantify their influence on the estimation of the human arm impedance. We argue that this mitigates the risk of relying on overconfident estimates and promotes more precise computational approaches in robot-based neurorehabilitation.

Expert Review on Usefulness of an Integrated Checklist-based Mobile Usability Evaluation Framework

Previous mobile usability studies are only pertinent in the context of ergonomics, physical user interface, and mobility aspects. In addition, much of the previous mobile usability conception was built on desktop computing measurements, such as desktop and web application checklists, or scarcely addressed the mobile user interface. Moreover, the studies focus mainly on interface features for desktop applications and do not reflect comprehensive mobile interface features such as navigation drawers and spinners. Therefore, conducting usability evaluation using conventional usability measurement would result in irrelevant results. In addition, the resulting works are tailored for usability testing, which requires highly skilled evaluators and usability specialists (e.g., usability testers and user experience designers), who are rarely integrated into a development team. The lack of expertise could lead to unreliable usability evaluations. This paper presents a review from industrial experts on a comprehensive and feasible usability evaluation framework developed in our previous work. The framework is dedicated to smartphone apps, which integrate evaluator skills and design concerns. However, there is no evidence of its usefulness in practice. Therefore, the usefulness of the framework measurement for evaluating apps' usability in the eyes of non-usability specialists is empirically assessed in this paper through an expert review. The expert review involved eleven industrial developers and was complemented by a semi-structured interview. The method is replicated in comparison with a framework from another study. The findings show that the formulated framework significantly outperformed the framework (p = 0.0286) from other studies with large effect sizes (r = 1.81) in terms of usefulness.