Design and Optimization of a Handle Robot for Providing Bodily Support to Elderly Persons
Age-related loss of mobility and an increased risk of falling remain major obstacles for older adults to live independently. Many elderly people lack the coordination and strength necessary to perform activities of daily living, such as getting out of bed or stepping into a bathtub. A traditional...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2023
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152870 |
| _version_ | 1826196558210662400 |
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| author | Bolli Jr., Roberto A. |
| author2 | Asada, H. Harry |
| author_facet | Asada, H. Harry Bolli Jr., Roberto A. |
| author_sort | Bolli Jr., Roberto A. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Age-related loss of mobility and an increased risk of falling remain major obstacles for
older adults to live independently. Many elderly people lack the coordination and strength
necessary to perform activities of daily living, such as getting out of bed or stepping into
a bathtub. A traditional solution is to install grab bars around the home. For assisting in
bathtub transitions, grab bars are fixed to a bathroom wall. However, they are often too far
to reach and stably support the user; the installation locations of grab bars are constrained
by the room layout and are often suboptimal. In this thesis, we present a mobile robot that
provides an older adult with a handlebar located anywhere in space - “Handle Anywhere”.
The robot consists of an omnidirectional mobile base attached to a repositionable handlebar.
We further develop a methodology to optimally place the handle to provide the maximum
support for the elderly user while performing common postural changes. A cost function
with a trade-off between mechanical advantage and manipulability of the user’s arm was
optimized in terms of the location of the handlebar relative to the user. The methodology
requires only a sagittal plane video of the elderly user performing the postural change, and
thus is rapid, scalable, and uniquely customizable to each user. A proof-of-concept prototype
was built, and the optimization algorithm for handle location was validated experimentally.
Additionally, we present the results of a study to discover any correlations between an
elderly person’s preferred handlebar pose and various demographic indicators, self-rated
mobility for tasks requiring postural change, and biomechanical markers. For simplicity,
we considered only the case where the handlebar was positioned directly in front of the
user, as this confined the relevant body kinematics to a 2D sagittal plane. This data-driven
approach complements the cost function described earlier by assessing how a handlebar
should be positioned based on data from actual elderly people.
Lastly, we introduce a novel design for a wheel capable of changing configuration based
on the surface underneath it, such that there will always be a high coefficient of friction
between the wheel and the ground. The wheel design was refined through experimental tests
on various floor surfaces commonly found in the homes of elderly people. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:29:24Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/152870 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:29:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1528702023-11-03T03:49:04Z Design and Optimization of a Handle Robot for Providing Bodily Support to Elderly Persons Bolli Jr., Roberto A. Asada, H. Harry Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Age-related loss of mobility and an increased risk of falling remain major obstacles for older adults to live independently. Many elderly people lack the coordination and strength necessary to perform activities of daily living, such as getting out of bed or stepping into a bathtub. A traditional solution is to install grab bars around the home. For assisting in bathtub transitions, grab bars are fixed to a bathroom wall. However, they are often too far to reach and stably support the user; the installation locations of grab bars are constrained by the room layout and are often suboptimal. In this thesis, we present a mobile robot that provides an older adult with a handlebar located anywhere in space - “Handle Anywhere”. The robot consists of an omnidirectional mobile base attached to a repositionable handlebar. We further develop a methodology to optimally place the handle to provide the maximum support for the elderly user while performing common postural changes. A cost function with a trade-off between mechanical advantage and manipulability of the user’s arm was optimized in terms of the location of the handlebar relative to the user. The methodology requires only a sagittal plane video of the elderly user performing the postural change, and thus is rapid, scalable, and uniquely customizable to each user. A proof-of-concept prototype was built, and the optimization algorithm for handle location was validated experimentally. Additionally, we present the results of a study to discover any correlations between an elderly person’s preferred handlebar pose and various demographic indicators, self-rated mobility for tasks requiring postural change, and biomechanical markers. For simplicity, we considered only the case where the handlebar was positioned directly in front of the user, as this confined the relevant body kinematics to a 2D sagittal plane. This data-driven approach complements the cost function described earlier by assessing how a handlebar should be positioned based on data from actual elderly people. Lastly, we introduce a novel design for a wheel capable of changing configuration based on the surface underneath it, such that there will always be a high coefficient of friction between the wheel and the ground. The wheel design was refined through experimental tests on various floor surfaces commonly found in the homes of elderly people. S.M. 2023-11-02T20:23:38Z 2023-11-02T20:23:38Z 2023-09 2023-09-28T15:49:51.770Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152870 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) Copyright retained by author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Bolli Jr., Roberto A. Design and Optimization of a Handle Robot for Providing Bodily Support to Elderly Persons |
| title | Design and Optimization of a Handle Robot for Providing Bodily Support to Elderly Persons |
| title_full | Design and Optimization of a Handle Robot for Providing Bodily Support to Elderly Persons |
| title_fullStr | Design and Optimization of a Handle Robot for Providing Bodily Support to Elderly Persons |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design and Optimization of a Handle Robot for Providing Bodily Support to Elderly Persons |
| title_short | Design and Optimization of a Handle Robot for Providing Bodily Support to Elderly Persons |
| title_sort | design and optimization of a handle robot for providing bodily support to elderly persons |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152870 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bollijrrobertoa designandoptimizationofahandlerobotforprovidingbodilysupporttoelderlypersons |