Controlling a robotic arm for functional tasks using a wireless head-joystick: A case study of a child with congenital absence of upper and lower limbs

PLoS One. 2020 Aug 5;15(8):e0226052. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226052. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Children with movement impairments needing assistive devices for activities of daily living often require novel methods for controlling these devices. Body-machine interfaces, which rely on body movements, are particularly well-suited for children as they are non-invasive and have high signal-to-noise ratios. Here, we examined the use of a head-joystick to enable a child with congenital absence of all four limbs to control a seven degree-of-freedom robotic arm. Head movements were measured with a wireless inertial measurement unit and used to control a robotic arm to perform two functional tasks-a drinking task and a block stacking task. The child practiced these tasks over multiple sessions; a control participant performed the same tasks with a manual joystick. Our results showed that the child was able to successfully perform both tasks, with movement times decreasing by ~40-50% over 6-8 sessions of training. The child's performance with the head-joystick was also comparable to the control participant using a manual joystick. These results demonstrate the potential of using head movements for the control of high degree-of-freedom tasks in children with limited movement repertoire.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Activities of Daily Living
  • Adolescent
  • Head / physiology
  • Head Movements / physiology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Movement / physiology
  • Robotics / instrumentation*
  • Self-Help Devices / trends
  • User-Computer Interface*
  • Wireless Technology / instrumentation

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (https://www.nsf.gov/) - NSF 1703735 awarded to RM, ML,FK, RR; NSF 1654929 awarded to ML; and NSF 1823889 awarded to RR. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.