COVR

The purpose of this protocol is to validate the safety skill Limit Restraining Energy for a robotic device acting on a single human joint along one degree of freedom. In this document the safety skill protects the user of a robotic device from excessive torques applied to a joint. The validation experiment is performed using a 1D force sensor and a testing frame placed around the robotic device. The torque generated by the robotic device is derived from the measured force. This protocol is based on a safety test protocol developed in the COVR funded FSTP project SAFEharbor, by Amsterdam VUMC, TU Delft and LUMC and was published as Deliverable D1.4 for that project.

This protocol describes a method for validating the safety skill “Maintain proper alignment” for joint axis alignment (both translational as well as rotational) for exoskeleton type rehabilitation robots as well as exoskeleton type robots used in other domains. This protocol uses an instrumented artificial limb, by which the joint angles, contact forces as well as the forces and torques in the joint can be determined, to validate the skill.

The specific purpose of this protocol is to validate the safety skill “limit interaction energy” by measurement. The skill “limit interaction energy” protects bystanders from injuries caused by collision with the exoskeleton. This protocol is therefore not focusing on the safety of the person attached to the exoskeleton but rather of persons in close proximity of the exoskeleton. For the execution of this protocol it is required that the reader has a bio-fidelic force and pressure measurement device available.

The purpose of the protocol is to validate the safety skill “limit range of movement” for an angular motion of a single joint of an exoskeleton or a restrained-type rehabilitation robot. The range of motion is measured using an electro-goniometer.

This protocol is to be used to test the restraining energy that can be applied to a human subject during use of an exoskeleton used for upper limb support. This protocol is both aimed at exoskeletons used in the medical domain as well as at exoskeletons used in the industrial, logistic or agricultural domain.

This protocol can be used to validate the ability of a Weight Support System, used in the healthcare domain, to prevent falls by limiting the Range of Vertical Motion.

This protocol can be used to validate the weight support level for Weight Support Systems used in the healthcare domain, where the amount of weight support can be varied by a therapist according to the need for the therapy of a subject.