Using workspace restrictiveness for adaptive velocity adjustment of assistive robots and upper limb exoskeletons

Individuals with severe disabilities can benefit from assistive robotic systems (ARS) for performing activities of daily living. However, limited control interfaces are available for individuals who cannot use their hands for the control, and most of these interfaces require high effort to perform simple tasks. Therefore, autonomous and intelligent control strategies were proposed for assisting with the control in complex tasks. In this paper, we presented an autonomous and adaptive method for adjusting an assistive robot's velocity in different regions of its workspace and reducing the robot velocity where fine control is required. Two participants controlled a JACO assistive robot to grasp and lift a bottle with and without the velocity adjustment method. The task was performed 9.1% faster with velocity adjustment. Furthermore, analyzing the robot trajectory showed that the method recognized highly restrictive regions and reduced the robot end-effector velocity accordingly.Clinical relevance - The autonomous velocity adjustment method can ease the control of ARSs and improve their usability, leading to a higher quality of life for individuals with severe disabilities who can benefit from ARSs.