Description du projet
Comment la robotique molle peut améliorer la mobilité humaine
La robotique molle, un domaine en plein essor, a connu des progrès remarquables dans diverses applications telles que les dispositifs portables et les robots mobiles. Parmi ces innovations, le développement d’exosquelettes souples pour les membres inférieurs, connu sous le nom de robotique molle portable, se distingue comme un sujet de recherche complexe qui requière une expertise pluridisciplinaire. Dans ce contexte, le projet SWAG, financé par l’UE, se propose de concevoir des structures molles dépourvues de matériaux rigides. SWAG fait appel à des tissus et des films extrêmement résistants pour créer des dispositifs exosquelettiques gonflables qui ciblent spécifiquement les segments du corps humain sujets à des contraintes, tels que le bas du corps et le tronc. Les conceptions de SWAG, qui offrent une rigidité variable et des rapports force-poids plus élevés tout en s’adaptant précisément à la cinématique complexe de l’articulation, permettent une assistance complète des articulations à multiples degrés de liberté telles que la cheville et la hanche.
Objectif
"Soft robotics has become one of the fastest growing fields over the last decade, and the development of technologies related to the associated modelling, sensing, actuation and control challenges has flourished as part of the field’s impetus. Soft robots have been demonstrated in diverse applications such as wearable devices, mobile or locomotive robots, as well as soft manipulators. Soft lower extremity exoskeletons (“soft wearable robotics"" (SWRs)) are one of the most challenging research topics, and require multidisciplinary approaches involving diverse fields such as neuroscience, biomechanics, robot control, ergonomics and other fields.
SWAG aims to explore a fundamentally new approach to engineering soft structures that omit fully rigid materials for inflatable ones made from high-strength fabrics and films when manufacturing human-assistive exoskeletal devices that target strain-prone segments of the human body (i.e. lower body and core). Such soft wearable adaptive garments with actuation capabilities offer higher variable stiffness and force-to-weight ratios compared to other existing methods, and simultaneously entirely conform to each joint’s intricate kinematics. Because of this, new design approaches can be used as building blocks to realise complete assistance for multi-degree-of-freedom joints, such as the ankle or hip, by adapting flexible and conforming motions achieved by continuum robot designs.
SWAG’s advances will be demonstrated in 4 different application scenarios. The project brings together 13 partners from 5 EU countries and the UK. The partners consist of an interdisciplinary combination of leading academics with very strong track records in their respective fields. They are supported by RTOs with demonstrated capabilities of developing and validating application-driven solutions, as well as two commercial partners aiming to lead the exploitation of SWAG’s outcomes."
Champ scientifique
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesneurobiology
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesinternetinternet of things
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringroboticssoft robotics
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiophysics
- social sciencespsychologyergonomics
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Régime de financement
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinateur
15232 Chalandri
Grèce