Project Description
Symbitron: Symbiotic man-machine interactions in wearable exoskeletons to enhance mobility for paraplegics
2013-10-01 to 2018-03-31 (ongoing project)
The goal of Symbitron is to enable individuals with paraplegia to regain mobility with a novel lower-limb exoskeleton and a bio-inspired controller. BioRob’s role is to develop and test a neuromuscular controller that can produce various walking gaits with resemblance to human kinematics, kinetics, and muscle activations with few sensors and no pre-defined reference patterns.
Neuromuscular Controller
For real world function, wearable devices to assist gait should be highly responsive to both the user and the environment. Users should also be able to interact with the device in an intuitive manner. This positive shared control between machine and human is especially important for individuals with spinal cord injuries, where active recruitment of their own neuromuscular system could promote motor recovery. Here we demonstrate the capability of a biologically-inspired neuromuscular controller (NMC) and its use in assisting the gait of SCI test pilots.
The NMC was based on a sagittal plane neuromechanical simulation developed by Hartmut Geyer, which generates walking by activating simulated muscle reflex loops stimulated by few sensory imputs. Only the foot contact states and joint angles are needed to activate the simulated reflex loops of the Hill-type muscle models. The stance reflexes loop provides weight bearing support during the stance phase, and the swing reflexes allow the leg to flex and swing freely. The muscle forces generated from the virtual muscle dynamics combine to produce knee and hip torque commands to the gait trainer. The advantages of this controller over other approaches include robustness, modularity, and adaptability. In particular, the controller does not require filtering of its inputs (as with myoelectric control), can be decomposed into relevant modules (e.g. only knee or hip control), and can generate walking at different speeds and on different terrains in simulation.
For implementation on hardware, we developed a NMC Simulink library with control modules that allowed for tailoring to specific exoskeleton devices. So far we have tested the NMC on three different devices. The ankle module was tested on powered ankle exoskeleton Achilles, and the knee and hip modules were tested with gait trainer LOPES (both devices are from UTwente). We are currently testing the ankle and knee module on our new wearable exoskeleton. To provide subject-specific control for the SCI subjects, the NMC modules were designed to provide asymmetric control between the right and left legs, between extension and flexion, and among different muscles.
Tests with Human Subjects
We evaluated our controller with both healthy and paraplegic subjects. The modular nature of our controller enables us to test it on several different types of lower limb assistive devices. We evaluated subjects’ walking kinematics and kinetics, muscle activation levels, and metabolic power when possible.
Ankle Control
We tested the ankle module of the neuromuscular controller with a powered ankle exoskeleton (UTwente’s Achilles) on healthy subjects and paraplegic test plots with some mobility. For the healthy subjects, we evaluated the mechanics and energetics of walking with such a device and controller. This controller was designed to mimic human reflex patterns during locomotion, which we hypothesized would lead to lower energetic costs compared to walking with the added mass of the device only. Preliminary tests found that healthy-like gait patterns remained intact, and metabolic costs were reduced compared to the transparent mode of the device. Muscle activity of the tibialis anterior and soleus were also reduced with the assistive push-off. Please see Dzeladini et al. 2016 under Publications for more information.
Knee and Hip Control
We evaluated the neuromuscular controller on a lower-limb knee and hip robotic gait trainer (UTwente’s LOPES) with seven pilots with paraplegia (four complete, two incomplete) and one healthy subject. We determined that the NMC could enable normal-like walking gait kinematics at various walking speeds. We found that SCI pilots could walk at a range of normal walking speeds– from 0.6 m/s to 1.4 m/s. Despite a few differences between NMC-produced torques and healthy biological torques, the SCI joint kinematics were similar to healthy kinematics. With few sensors and no predefined gait patterns for multiple speeds or different subjects, the NMC could produce various walking patterns based on subject interaction with the environment. Please see Wu et al. 2017 under publications for more information.
WE1: Ankle and Knee Control
Our consortium partners at Delft and UTwente have developed a new ankle and knee wearable exoskeleton. Tests of the NMC with this device on paraplegic pilots are currently ongoing at the Fondazione Santa Lucia, another one of our consortium partners. Since this exoskeleton only actuates the ankle and knee, these pilots already have some volitional control of their hip joint.
WE2: Lower Limb Control (ankle, knee, hip)
Tests of the full lower limb exoskeleton and neurmuscular controller will be conducted in early 2018. These tests will involve paraplegic pilots who do not have volitional control of their hip joints.
Student Projects
Related student projects:
S. Berger. Energy consumption optimization and stumbling corrective response for bipedal walking gait.
F. Dzeladini. Implementation of a human feedback-based locomotion and its control by means of a feedforward component inspired by central pattern generators
A. di Russo. Biomechanical analysis of slow walking and stepping behavior in healthy subjects on treadmill
Researchers
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Auke J. Ijspeert, Florin Dzeladini, Amy R. Wu
Publications
Field Guide to Northern Tree-related Microhabitats: Descriptions and size limits for their inventory in boreal and hemiboreal forests of Europe and North America
R. Bütler Sauvain; L. Larrieu; L. F. Lunde; M. Maxence; B. Nordén et al.
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Switzerland, 2024. Timelapse: Geneva Lake, in front of Chexbres – 2019
V. Kindschi
2023. German Democratic Radio
A. Thiermann
Gesellschaft bauen. Architektur als Medium der Demokratie in der frühen Bundesrepublik, Berlin, Germany, March 24-25, 2022. Aesthetics of Conservation; Aesthetics of Extinction. The Chilean Pavilion at the 59th Art Biennale
A. Thiermann
Keynote Lecture at Villa Massimo, German Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy, October 10, 2022. Type and History
A. Thiermann
Tackle The Type: Filling Stations, Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, March 27, 2023. The Broadcasting House: Architecture, Type, and the Culture Industry
A. Thiermann
The Fifth Typology, Lausanne, Switzerland, April 4-5, 2023. Infrastructures of Solidarity, Infrastructures of Totalitarism
A. Thiermann
Listening to the World – 100 Years of Radio organised by the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Berlin, Germany, 21-22.10.2023. Notes on Los Angeles
A. Thiermann
Translational Histories of Architecture. A London symposium in honour of Jean-Louis Cohen (1949–2023), London, Great Britain, 2023-11-27. Comparison of Three Viral Nucleic Acid Preamplification Pipelines for Sewage Viral Metagenomics
X. Fernandez Cassi; T. Kohn
Food and Environmental Virology. 2024. DOI : 10.1007/s12560-024-09594-3. How to Support Students to Develop Skills that Promote Sustainability
S. R. Isaac; J. de Lima
Teaching Transversal Skills for Engineering Studens: A Practical Handbook of Activities with Tangibles; EPFL, 2024. How to Support Students Giving Each Other Constructive Feedback, Especially When It Is Difficult to Hear
S. R. Isaac; J. de Lima
Teaching Transversal Skills for Engineering Studens: A Practical Handbook of Activities with Tangibles; EPFL, 2024. How teachers can use the 3T PLAY trident framework to design an activity that develops transversal skills
S. R. Isaac; J. de Lima
Teaching Transversal Skills for Engineering Studens: A Practical Handbook of Activities with Tangibles; EPFL, 2024. Radio-Activities: Architecture and Broadcasting in Cold War Berlin
A. Thiermann
Cambridge, MA; London: MIT Press, 2024. All That is Solid
A. Thiermann
Transcalar Prospects in Climate Crisis; Zurich: Lars Müller, 2024. Turba Tol – Hol Hol Tol
A. Thiermann
ARQ (Santiago). 2022. num. 112, p. 42–50. Echo’s Chambers by Joseph Clarke (Book Review)
A. Thiermann
Constructs Yale Architecture. 2022. p. 15. Coming to Terms with Drawing
A. Thiermann
Pan Scroll Zoom. Teaching Architecture Under Lockdown: 20 Studios Worldwide that Went Online; London: Drawing Matter, 2021. p. 221. Drawing the Line
A. Thiermann
a+u Architecture And Urbanism Magazine. 2021. Vol. 11, num. 614, p. 197–198. Learning to Learn: Review of ‘The University Is Now on Air: Broadcasting Modern Architecture
A. Thiermann
ARQ (Santiago). 2019. num. 102, p. 3-11. The House at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Architecture in Capitalist Ruins
A. Thiermann
Archithese. 2019. num. 3, p. 62–71. Radio as Architecture: Notes toward the Redefinition of the Berlin Walls
A. Thiermann
War Zones: gta papers; Zurich: gta Verlag, 2019. p. 134. Radio-Activities
A. Thiermann
Thresholds. 2017. num. 45, p. 194–209. The Ground as Forensic Evidence: Alfredo Thiermann in Conversation with Eyal Weizman
A. Thiermann
ARQ (Santiago). 2016. num. 93, p. 14–23. White on White
A. Thiermann
Are We Human? The Design of the Species: 2 Seconds, 2 Days, 2 Years, 200 Years, 200,000 Years; Zurich: Lars Müller, 2016. What Does an Invisible Architecture Look Like
A. Thiermann
The Real Review. 2016. num. 1, p. 70-74. Dynamics of the Void
A. Thiermann
ARQ (Santiago). 2015. num. 90, p. 70-71. Dynamics of the Void
A. Thiermann
Trace Magazine. 2014. num. 9, p. 104–115. Artefact Nr. I
A. Thiermann
Trace Magazine. 2014. num. 9, p. 30-40. Artefact Nr. I
A. Thiermann
Potlatch Journal of Architecture. 2013. num. 3, p. 56–69. Artefact Nr. I.
A. Thiermann
Zeppelin Magazine. 2014-11-01. num. 129, p. 43–45. Studies of crystal collimation for heavy ion operation at the LHC
R. Cai / M. Seidel; R. Bruce (Dir.)
Lausanne, EPFL, 2024. Querying the Digital Archive of Science: Distant Reading, Semantic Modelling and Representation of Knowledge
A. Volynskaya / J. Baudry; J-F. Bert (Dir.)
Lausanne, EPFL, 2024. Hybrid organic/metal-oxide shells on semiconductor nanocrystals via colloidal atomic layer deposition
O. Segura Lecina / R. Buonsanti (Dir.)
Lausanne, EPFL, 2024. Electrical and Optical Manifestations of Flat Band Physics in Van der Waals Materials
G. Pasquale / A. Kis (Dir.)
Lausanne, EPFL, 2024. Plasmonically enhanced molecular junctions for investigation of atomic-scale fluctuations in self-assembled monolayers
S. P. Amirtharaj / C. M. G. Galland (Dir.)
Lausanne, EPFL, 2024. Exact Obstacle Avoidance for Robots in Complex and Dynamic Environments Using Local Modulation
L. Huber / A. Billard (Dir.)
Lausanne, EPFL, 2024. Aesthetics of Extinction, Aesthetics of Conservation: the Chilean Pavilion at the 59th Venice Art Biennale
A. Thiermann
Harvard Design Magazine. 2023-09-01. Vol. F/W 23, num. 51. Quantifying the effects of rainfall temporal variability on landscape evolution processes
T. Lian; N. Peleg; S. Bonetti
EGU 2024, Viena, April 14–19, 2024. Towards a metabolic theory of catchments: scaling of water and carbon fluxes with size
F. Bassani; S. Fatichi; S. Bonetti
EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, April 14-19, 2024. Impact of CO2-rich seawater injection on the flow properties of basalts
E. Stavropoulou; C. Griner; L. Laloui
International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control. 2024-04-19. Vol. 134, p. 104128. DOI : 10.1016/j.ijggc.2024.104128. Comment une situation d’investigation policière fait évoluer les conceptions d’élèves de troisième sur l’ADN
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RDST. 2013. num. 7, p. 77-106. DOI : 10.4000/rdst.698. TSLAM: a tag-based object-centered monocular navigation system for augmented manual woodworking.
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Construction Robotics. 2024-04-16. Vol. 8, num. 4. DOI : 10.1007/s41693-024-00118-w. Water weakening and the compressive brittle strength of carbonates: Influence of fracture toughness and static friction
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International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences. 2024. Vol. 177, p. 105736. DOI : 10.1016/j.ijrmms.2024.105736. Integration of the Pilatus3 detector for soft X-ray diagnostics on TCV
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25th Topical Conference on High Temperature Plasma Diagnostics HTPD 2024, Asheville, North Carolina, 21 – 25 April 2024. An extension of the stochastic sewing lemma and applications to fractional stochastic calculus
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Forum Of Mathematics Sigma. 2024-04-11. Vol. 12, p. e52. DOI : 10.1017/fms.2024.32. Capsizing due to friction-induced twist in the failure of stopper knots
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Beilstein Journal Of Organic Chemistry. 2024-04-03. Vol. 20, p. 701-713. DOI : 10.3762/bjoc.20.64. Dielectric elastomer actuator-based valveless pump as Fontan failure assist device: introduction and preliminary study
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Ieee Security & Privacy. 2024-04-04. DOI : 10.1109/MSEC.2024.3379947. A Method of Moments Estimator for Interacting Particle Systems and their Mean Field Limit
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Advanced Engineering Informatics. 2024-02-20. Vol. 60, p. 102412. DOI : 10.1016/j.aei.2024.102412. Twisted pair transmission line coil – a flexible, self-decoupled and robust element for 7 T MRI
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Magnetic Resonance Imaging. 2024-02-19. Vol. 108, p. 146-160. DOI : 10.1016/j.mri.2024.02.007. Equilibria in Network Constrained Energy Markets
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2023-01-01. 22nd World Congress of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), Yokohama, JAPAN, JUL 09-14, 2023. p. 4168-4172. DOI : 10.1016/j.ifacol.2023.10.1760. Minimal regret state estimation of time-varying systems
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2023-01-01. 22nd World Congress of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), Yokohama, JAPAN, JUL 09-14, 2023. p. 2595-2600. DOI : 10.1016/j.ifacol.2023.10.1345. Follow the Clairvoyant: an Imitation Learning Approach to Optimal Control
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2023-01-01. 22nd World Congress of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), Yokohama, JAPAN, JUL 09-14, 2023. p. 2589-2594. DOI : 10.1016/j.ifacol.2023.10.1344. 3D Printing of Double Network Granular Elastomers with Locally Varying Mechanical Properties
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Physical Review Letters. 2024-02-26. Vol. 132, num. 9, p. 096701. DOI : 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.096701. Is There a Special Role for Ovarian Hormones in the Pathogenesis of Lobular Carcinoma?
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