Various body interfaces for movement augmentation were developed and evaluated. Our studies show that controlling three end-effectors simultaneously using body interfaces is intuitive, requires little training and results in excellent performance which can be comparable or better than when working with a partner. A wearable SRL based on a light commercial manipulator was developed, tested and its control with body interfaces for tri-manipulation evaluated. Furthermore, the wearable SRL was adapted to be fixed on a wheelchair or on a mobile industrial stool while following the body’s movement. Towards applications in robot-assisted surgery, an ergonomic foot interface with four degrees-of-freedom (dof) was evaluated with regard to the control of a soft endoscope and additional grasping with surgical tools. A finger interface with haptic feedback for control of mobile phones, computers and SRLs was developed and tested.
To provide supplementary sensory feedback from a supernumerary effector (SE), a wearable sensory feedback suit able to provide vibro- and electrotactile stimulation with high versatility and large bandwidth was developed and validated. Supplementary sensory feedback improved control in a trimanual task, was more effective (in the short term) when it carried information concerning end-effector Cartesian position than joint angle and produced better control performance than the inherent contact feedback of a wearable SRL alone. An experimental protocol to induce and assess embodiment of SRLs was designed and we collected preliminary data on the modulation of peripersonal space after SRL use. Finally, we tested a new feedback strategy with a closed-loop approach, based on electrotactile stimulation to allow participants to control an SRL in the absence of vision.
For the neural interface we investigated whether subjects can independently control individual motor units from a single muscle as a basis to control additional dof. In our studies, participants did not achieve continuous independent modulation of individual motor units’ firing rates or flexible recruitment of units. As an alternative control signal, we investigated high-frequency activity of motor units. Our findings indicate that high-frequency activity can be modulated by mental tasks and correlates with EEG oscillations suggesting that it reflects (at least partially) cortical oscillations. Regarding the muscle interface, we found limited potential for using the wrist’s musculoskeletal system for controlling SEs.
The development of technologies for human movement augmentation raises ethical and safety questions, both at the scale of individuals (safety of users sharing their workspace with an SRL or being impacted by movement augmentation abilities) and at the scale of society and humanity (ethics of movement augmentation). Regarding workspace safety, a risk analysis was conducted with the NIMA SRL platforms, a set of hard- and software measures were proposed to ensure user safety and a framework to analyse workspace safety of SRLs was proposed and validated in controlled laboratory experiments. In parallel, ethical reflections on issues were developed, information on potential real-life interactions enabled by NIMA was collected by an online survey and ethical guidelines on movement augmentation technology were proposed.
Findings of NIMA were published in scientific journals and conference proceedings, including many publications on collaborations involving multiple partners of the consortium. The consortium organized several symposia on movement augmentation at major international conferences, increasing the visibility of the project and connecting with major international players and projects in augmentation. Results were also disseminated to the general public via the NIMA website as well as Tecnalia’s website and LinkedIn profile. Results were exploited in training of students and young researchers, by contributing to the EU’s TechEthos cluster on ethical challenges of emerging technologies, through the EU’s Innovation Radar and by a one-day exploitation workshop. With the low technology readiness level of this FET Open project, most products and service creation are foreseen for later exploitation activities.
