Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

There have been more and more notable developments relating to robotics in many applications, such as minimally invasive surgery, computer-aided manufacturing, and unmanned vehicles, especially with industry 4.0 digital transformation. Autonomous systems will further progress with the development of Artificial Intelligence. Intelligent computing solutions are suitable for a growing number of real-world applications. Meanwhile, computer networks have been covering more areas of our daily life, especially with 4G, 5G and 6G wireless network solutions. The data collection, communication and storage capabilities of communication systems are progressively improving. However, existing robotic and networking techniques are still facing great challenges, from the interpretation of intelligence to security. Therefore, this Topic is looking for high-quality, original research articles that advance the fields of robotics and networks towards more secure, intelligent, capable, autonomous, communicating systems.

Dr. Xiaochun Cheng
Prof. Dr. Daming Shi
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Automation automation	-	2.9	2020	20.6 Days	CHF 1000
Machines machines	2.1	3.0	2013	15.6 Days	CHF 2400
Robotics robotics	2.9	6.7	2012	17.7 Days	CHF 1800
Sensors sensors	3.4	7.3	2001	16.8 Days	CHF 2600

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Published Papers (15 papers)

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All Automation Machines Robotics Sensors

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16 pages, 2873 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Physical Length and Weight Reduction of Humanoid In-Robot Network with Zonal Architecture

by Chengyu Cui, Chulsun Park and Sungkwon Park

Sensors 2023, 23(5), 2627; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23052627 - 27 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3149

Abstract

Recently, with the continuous increase in the number of sensors, motors, actuators, radars, data processors and other components carried by humanoid robots, the integration of electronic components within a humanoid is also facing new challenges. Therefore, we focus on the development of sensor [...] Read more.

Recently, with the continuous increase in the number of sensors, motors, actuators, radars, data processors and other components carried by humanoid robots, the integration of electronic components within a humanoid is also facing new challenges. Therefore, we focus on the development of sensor networks suitable for humanoid robots to designing an in-robot network (IRN) that can support a large sensor network for reliable data exchange. It was shown that the domain based in-vehicle network (IVN) architectures (DIA) used in the traditional and electric vehicles is gradually moving towards zonal IVN architectures (ZIA). Compared with DIA, ZIA for vehicles is known to provide better network scalability, maintenance convenience, shorter harness length, lighter harness weight, lower data transmission delay, and other several advantages. This paper introduces the structural differences between ZIRA and the domain based IRN architecture (DIRA) for humanoids. Additionally, it compares the differences in the length and weight of wiring harnesses of the two architectures. The results show that as the number of electrical components including sensors increases, ZIRA reduces at least 16% compared to DIRA, the wiring harness length, weight, and its cost. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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27 pages, 1955 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Hierarchical Plan Execution for Cooperative UxV Missions

by Jan de Gier, Jeroen Bergmans and Hanno Hildmann

Robotics 2023, 12(1), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics12010024 - 4 Feb 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2503

Abstract

A generic reasoning approach for autonomous unmanned vehicle (UxV) mission execution is presented. The system distinguishes (a) mission planning and (b) mission execution, treating these as separate but closely interdependent stages. The context of the work is that of tactical military operations, and [...] Read more.

A generic reasoning approach for autonomous unmanned vehicle (UxV) mission execution is presented. The system distinguishes (a) mission planning and (b) mission execution, treating these as separate but closely interdependent stages. The context of the work is that of tactical military operations, and the focus of the current (simulated) application is on ground-based platforms. The reference behavior for the UxVs is defined by military doctrine. Two operational requirements are met: (1) Mission plan and execution must be constructed such that they can be understood and evaluated (prior to giving the go ahead for the platforms to commence the mission) by a decision maker. (2) Mission plan and execution must account for both observations/information gathered during execution (for example, the spotting of enemy units) and for foreseeable changes in the internal and external situation (e.g., a sub-system failure, or changes in terrain or weather). Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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15 pages, 1256 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Performance of Sensor Data Process Offloading on 5G-Enabled UAVs

by Gerasimos Damigos, Tore Lindgren, Sara Sandberg and George Nikolakopoulos

Sensors 2023, 23(2), 864; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23020864 - 12 Jan 2023

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2836

Abstract

Recently, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-oriented applications have been growing worldwide. Thus, there is a strong interest in using UAVs for applications requiring wide-area connectivity coverage. Such applications might be power line inspection, road inspection, offshore site monitoring, wind turbine inspections, and others. The [...] Read more.

Recently, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-oriented applications have been growing worldwide. Thus, there is a strong interest in using UAVs for applications requiring wide-area connectivity coverage. Such applications might be power line inspection, road inspection, offshore site monitoring, wind turbine inspections, and others. The utilization of cellular networks, such as the fifth-generation (5G) technology, is often considered to meet the requirement of wide-area connectivity. This study quantifies the performance of 5G-enabled UAVs when sensor data throughput requirements are within the 5G network’s capability and when throughput requirements significantly exceed the capability of the 5G network, respectively. Our experimental results show that in the first case, the 5G network maintains bounded latency, and the application behaves as expected. In the latter case, the overloading of the 5G network results in increased latency, dropped packets, and overall degradation of the application performance. Our findings show that offloading processes requiring moderate sensor data rates work well, while transmitting all the raw data generated by the UAV’s sensors is not possible. This study highlights and experimentally demonstrates the impact of critical parameters that affect real-life 5G-enabled UAVs that utilize the edge-offloading power of a 5G cellular network. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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19 pages, 7769 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Risk Assessment Model-Guided Configuration Optimization for Free-Floating Space Robot Performing Contact Task

by Long Zhang and Shuquan Wang

Machines 2022, 10(9), 720; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10090720 - 23 Aug 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2010

Abstract

The use of free-floating space robots for contact tasks is very promising in space exploration. However, severe damage or obvious disturbance may occur if inappropriate operation is implemented. In this paper, a novel risk assessment method is first proposed to give a clear [...] Read more.

The use of free-floating space robots for contact tasks is very promising in space exploration. However, severe damage or obvious disturbance may occur if inappropriate operation is implemented. In this paper, a novel risk assessment method is first proposed to give a clear description of the risk state before contact happens and provide guidance for configuration optimization to reduce risk on contact tasks. Firstly, the dynamics model of a free-floating space robot is given. On this basis, two important risk assessment indicators, the maximum contact force and the base attitude disturbance caused by contact, are derived. By integrating the risk assessment indicators, a novel risk assessment model is proposed for a free-floating space robot performing a contact task. It is a multidimensional and extensible risk assessment space which could give a clear description of the risk state before contact happens. Thereafter, considering the results given by the risk assessment model, the configuration optimization for a free-floating space robot is implemented based on the design of optimization factor in null space. Finally, numerical simulation for a 7-degree-of-freedom free-floating space robot performing a contact task is carried out, and the simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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20 pages, 1168 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Constrained Image-Based Visual Servoing of Robot Manipulator with Third-Order Sliding-Mode Observer

by Xiuyan Peng, Jiashuai Li, Bing Li and Jiawei Wu

Machines 2022, 10(6), 465; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10060465 - 11 Jun 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2810

Abstract

A new image-based robot visual servo control strategy based on a third-order sliding-mode observer (TOSM) model predictive control is proposed in this study. This new control strategy solves the problem of robot visual servo control with system constraints and time-varying disturbances when the [...] Read more.

A new image-based robot visual servo control strategy based on a third-order sliding-mode observer (TOSM) model predictive control is proposed in this study. This new control strategy solves the problem of robot visual servo control with system constraints and time-varying disturbances when the camera and model of the robot manipulator are uncertain and the joint velocity is unknown. In the proposed method, the joint velocity and system centralized uncertainties are estimated simultaneously based on a third-order sliding-mode observer, and the image-based visual servoing problem is transformed into a nonlinear optimization problem based on a model predictive control method considering both visibility constraints and actuator constraints, which minimizes the predicted trajectory cost function to generate the control signal for each cycle. Simulations were carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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26 pages, 5815 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Collision Localization and Classification on the End-Effector of a Cable-Driven Manipulator Applied to EV Auto-Charging Based on DCNN–SVM

by Haoyu Lin, Pengkun Quan, Zhuo Liang, Ya’nan Lou, Dongbo Wei and Shichun Di

Sensors 2022, 22(9), 3439; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22093439 - 30 Apr 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2794

Abstract

With the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, cable-driven serial manipulators have been applied in auto-charging processes for electric vehicles. To ensure the safety of the physical vehicle–robot interaction in this scenario, this paper presents a model-independent collision localization and classification method for cable-driven [...] Read more.

With the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, cable-driven serial manipulators have been applied in auto-charging processes for electric vehicles. To ensure the safety of the physical vehicle–robot interaction in this scenario, this paper presents a model-independent collision localization and classification method for cable-driven serial manipulators. First, based on the dynamic characteristics of the manipulator, data sets of terminal collision are constructed. In contrast to utilizing signals based on torque sensors, our data sets comprise the vibration signals of a specific compensator. Then, the collected data sets are applied to construct and train our collision localization and classification model, which consists of a double-layer CNN and an SVM. Compared to previous works, the proposed method can extract features without manual intervention and can deal with collision when the contact surface is irregular. Furthermore, the proposed method is able to generate the location and classification of the collision at the same time. The simulated experiment results show the validity of the proposed collision localization and classification method, with promising prediction accuracy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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13 pages, 5776 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Increasing Bending Performance of Soft Actuator by Silicon Rubbers of Multiple Hardness

by Xishuang Jing, Siyu Chen, Chengyang Zhang and Fubao Xie

Machines 2022, 10(4), 272; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10040272 - 11 Apr 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3144

Abstract

In this study, a method for fabricating actuators made of various silicone materials is proposed to improve the flexural performance of soft-body actuators. Specifically, the redundant deformation part of the soft actuator was replaced with a material with higher hardness to limit the [...] Read more.

In this study, a method for fabricating actuators made of various silicone materials is proposed to improve the flexural performance of soft-body actuators. Specifically, the redundant deformation part of the soft actuator was replaced with a material with higher hardness to limit the redundant deformation of the soft actuator. Materials with lower hardness were used to produce the main deformation part of the soft actuator, so that the soft body actuator could perform greater bending under the same air pressure and create a greater bending force. In addition, the fabricated actuator was divided into three regions in this study: the periphery of the chamber, the chamber wall (the main curved part), and the bottom surface of the actuator. The impact on the overall performance of soft-body actuators when using silicone materials with different hardness in these three regions was explored in this study. According to the idea of the multi-hardness silicone structure, an actuator with seven chambers was fabricated, and the performance of the actuator was improved by 90.72% compared with the uniform material actuator. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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26 pages, 12271 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

A Hybrid Multi-Target Path Planning Algorithm for Unmanned Cruise Ship in an Unknown Obstacle Environment

by Jiabin Yu, Guandong Liu, Jiping Xu, Zhiyao Zhao, Zhihao Chen, Meng Yang, Xiaoyi Wang and Yuting Bai

Sensors 2022, 22(7), 2429; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22072429 - 22 Mar 2022

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 2962

Abstract

To solve the problem of traversal multi-target path planning for an unmanned cruise ship in an unknown obstacle environment of lakes, this study proposed a hybrid multi-target path planning algorithm. The proposed algorithm can be divided into two parts. First, the multi-target path [...] Read more.

To solve the problem of traversal multi-target path planning for an unmanned cruise ship in an unknown obstacle environment of lakes, this study proposed a hybrid multi-target path planning algorithm. The proposed algorithm can be divided into two parts. First, the multi-target path planning problem was transformed into a traveling salesman problem, and an improved Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) algorithm was used to calculate the multi-target cruise sequence. The improved GWO algorithm optimized the convergence factor by introducing the Beta function, which can improve the convergence speed of the traditional GWO algorithm. Second, based on the planned target sequence, an improved D* Lite algorithm was used to implement the path planning between every two target points in an unknown obstacle environment. The heuristic function in the D* Lite algorithm was improved to reduce the number of expanded nodes, so the search speed was improved, and the planning path was smoothed. The proposed algorithm was verified by experiments and compared with the other four algorithms in both ordinary and complex environments. The experimental results demonstrated the strong applicability and high effectiveness of the proposed method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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24 pages, 4941 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Object-Based Reliable Visual Navigation for Mobile Robot

by Fan Wang, Chaofan Zhang, Wen Zhang, Cuiyun Fang, Yingwei Xia, Yong Liu and Hao Dong

Sensors 2022, 22(6), 2387; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22062387 - 20 Mar 2022

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4039

Abstract

Visual navigation is of vital importance for autonomous mobile robots. Most existing practical perception-aware based visual navigation methods generally require prior-constructed precise metric maps, and learning-based methods rely on large training to improve their generality. To improve the reliability of visual navigation, in [...] Read more.

Visual navigation is of vital importance for autonomous mobile robots. Most existing practical perception-aware based visual navigation methods generally require prior-constructed precise metric maps, and learning-based methods rely on large training to improve their generality. To improve the reliability of visual navigation, in this paper, we propose a novel object-level topological visual navigation method. Firstly, a lightweight object-level topological semantic map is constructed to release the dependence on the precise metric map, where the semantic associations between objects are stored via graph memory and topological organization is performed. Then, we propose an object-based heuristic graph search method to select the global topological path with the optimal and shortest characteristics. Furthermore, to reduce the global cumulative error, a global path segmentation strategy is proposed to divide the global topological path on the basis of active visual perception and object guidance. Finally, to achieve adaptive smooth trajectory generation, a Bernstein polynomial-based smooth trajectory refinement method is proposed by transforming trajectory generation into a nonlinear planning problem, achieving smooth multi-segment continuous navigation. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of our method on both simulation and real-world scenarios. The proposed method also obtains better navigation success rate (SR) and success weighted by inverse path length (SPL) than the state-of-the-art methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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13 pages, 1369 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Utilization of SDN Technology for Flexible EtherCAT Networks Applications

by Ireneusz Smołka and Jacek Stój

Sensors 2022, 22(5), 1944; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22051944 - 2 Mar 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3000

Abstract

At the beginning of the current century, Ethernet-based communication networks began to be implemented in industrial applications. Some previously used protocols were migrated to Ethernet networks, while many others were strictly developed for this communication medium. Numerous industrial Ethernet protocols do not deliver [...] Read more.

At the beginning of the current century, Ethernet-based communication networks began to be implemented in industrial applications. Some previously used protocols were migrated to Ethernet networks, while many others were strictly developed for this communication medium. Numerous industrial Ethernet protocols do not deliver all the capabilities provided by the Ethernet. For example, limitations may arise associated with wireless communication, use of dedicated switching devices, or operation solely for certain topologies. On the other hand, new technologies are now available, such as software defined networks (SDN), that add new features to Ethernet-based communication systems. In this paper, an EtherCAT network in combination with SDN is analyzed. EtherCAT network may only consist of devices with an implemented EtherCAT protocol stack. Therefore, regular Ethernet switches cannot typically be used in this network and, hence, special network infrastructure may be required to create topologies other than standard line topology. It is shown, however, that this limitation can be overcome by the application of SDN. In addition, a definition of datagram forwarding rules (called SDN flows here) is given, and we demonstrate that EtherCAT datagrams can be sent through routes that are required for proper EtherCAT network operation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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26 pages, 13459 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Verification of Optimized Anatomies on a Serial Metamorphic Manipulator

by Nikolaos Stravopodis, Charalampos Valsamos and Vassilis C. Moulianitis

Sensors 2022, 22(3), 918; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22030918 - 25 Jan 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2348

Abstract

The inherit complexity of the determination of the optimal anatomy and structure to task requirements and specification for metamorphic manipulators poses a significant challenge to the end user, as such methods and tools to undertake such processes are required for the implementation of [...] Read more.

The inherit complexity of the determination of the optimal anatomy and structure to task requirements and specification for metamorphic manipulators poses a significant challenge to the end user, as such methods and tools to undertake such processes are required for the implementation of metamorphic robots to real-life applications in various fields. In this work, the methodology for an offline process for the determination of the optimal anatomy maximizing performance under different requirements is presented. Such requirements considered in this work include the kinematic, kinetostatic and dynamic performance of the manipulator during task execution. The proposed methodology is then applied to a 3 D.o.F. metamorphic manipulator for different tasks. The presented results clearly show that a single metamorphic structure is able to provide the end user with different anatomies, each better suited to task specifications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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20 pages, 7336 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

An Intravascular Catheter Bending Recognition Method for Interventional Surgical Robots

by Wei Wei, Dong Yang, Li Li and Yuxuan Xia

Machines 2022, 10(1), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10010042 - 6 Jan 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3073

Abstract

Robot-assisted interventional surgery can greatly reduce the radiation received by surgeons during the operation, but the lack of force detection and force feedback is still a risk in the operation which may harm the patient. In those robotic surgeries, the traditional force detection [...] Read more.

Robot-assisted interventional surgery can greatly reduce the radiation received by surgeons during the operation, but the lack of force detection and force feedback is still a risk in the operation which may harm the patient. In those robotic surgeries, the traditional force detection methods may have measurement losses and errors caused by mechanical transmission and cannot identify the direction of the force. In this paper, an interventional surgery robot system with a force detection device is designed and a new force detection method based on strain gauges is proposed to detect the force and infer the bending direction of the catheter in the vessel by using BP neural network. In addition, genetic algorithm is used to optimize the BP neural network, and the error between the calculated results and the actual results is reduced by 37%, which improves the accuracy of catheter bending recognition. Combining this new method with traditional force sensors not only reduces the error caused by the traditional mechanical transmission, but also can detect the bending direction of the catheter in the blood vessel, which greatly improves the safety of the operation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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16 pages, 20681 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Monocular 3D Object Detection Based on Uncertainty Prediction of Keypoints

by Mu Chen, Huaici Zhao and Pengfei Liu

Machines 2022, 10(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10010019 - 26 Dec 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3359

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) object detection is an important task in the field of machine vision, in which the detection of 3D objects using monocular vision is even more challenging. We observe that most of the existing monocular methods focus on the design of the [...] Read more.

Three-dimensional (3D) object detection is an important task in the field of machine vision, in which the detection of 3D objects using monocular vision is even more challenging. We observe that most of the existing monocular methods focus on the design of the feature extraction framework or embedded geometric constraints, but ignore the possible errors in the intermediate process of the detection pipeline. These errors may be further amplified in the subsequent processes. After exploring the existing detection framework of keypoints, we find that the accuracy of keypoints prediction will seriously affect the solution of 3D object position. Therefore, we propose a novel keypoints uncertainty prediction network (KUP-Net) for monocular 3D object detection. In this work, we design an uncertainty prediction module to characterize the uncertainty that exists in keypoint prediction. Then, the uncertainty is used for joint optimization with object position. In addition, we adopt position-encoding to assist the uncertainty prediction, and use a timing coefficient to optimize the learning process. The experiments on our detector are conducted on the $KITTI$ benchmark. For the two levels of easy and moderate, we achieve accuracy of 17.26 and 11.78 in $A{P}_{3D}$, and achieve accuracy of 23.59 and 16.63 in $A{P}_{BEV}$, which are higher than the latest method KM3D. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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18 pages, 12933 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

A 6DoF Pose Estimation Dataset and Network for Multiple Parametric Shapes in Stacked Scenarios

by Xinyu Zhang, Weijie Lv and Long Zeng

Machines 2021, 9(12), 321; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines9120321 - 27 Nov 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4061

Abstract

Most industrial parts are instantiated from different parametric templates. The 6DoF (6D) pose estimation tasks are challenging, since some part objects from a known template may be unseen before. This paper releases a new and well-annotated 6D pose estimation dataset for multiple parametric [...] Read more.

Most industrial parts are instantiated from different parametric templates. The 6DoF (6D) pose estimation tasks are challenging, since some part objects from a known template may be unseen before. This paper releases a new and well-annotated 6D pose estimation dataset for multiple parametric templates in stacked scenarios donated as Multi-Parametric Dataset, where a training set (50K scenes) and a test set (2K scenes) are obtained by automatical labeling techniques. In particular, the test set is further divided into a TEST-L dataset for learning evaluation and a TEST-G dataset for generalization evaluation. Since the part objects from the same template are regarded as a class in the Multi-Parametric Dataset and the number of part objects is infinite, we propose a new 6D pose estimation network as our baseline method, Multi-templates Parametric Pose Network (MPP-Net), aiming to have sufficient generalization ability for parametric part objects in stacked scenarios. To our best knowledge, our dataset and method are the first to jointly achieve 6D pose estimation and parameter values prediction for multiple parametric templates. Many experiments are conducted on the Multi-Parametric Dataset. The mIoU and Overall Accuracy of foreground segmentation and template segmentation on the two test datasets exceed 99.0%. Besides, MPP-Net achieves 92.9% and 90.8% on mAP under the threshold of 0.5cm for translation prediction, achieves 41.9% and 36.8% under the threshold of $5^{\circ }$ for rotation prediction, and achieves 51.0% and 6.0% under the threshold of 5% for parameter values prediction, on the two test set, respectively. The results have shown that our dataset has exploratory value for 6D pose estimation and parameter values prediction tasks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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15 pages, 2793 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Validation of a Hybrid Exoskeleton for Upper Limb Rehabilitation. A Preliminary Study

by Isabel-María Alguacil-Diego, Alicia Cuesta-Gómez, Aldo-Francisco Contreras-González, David Pont-Esteban, David Cantalejo-Escobar, Miguel Ángel Sánchez-Urán and Manuel Ferre

Sensors 2021, 21(21), 7342; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21217342 - 4 Nov 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3048

Abstract

Recovery of therapeutic or functional ambulatory capacity in patients with rotator cuff injury is a primary goal of rehabilitation. Wearable powered exoskeletons allow patients to perform repetitive practice with large movements to maximize recovery, even immediately after the acute event. The aim of [...] Read more.

Recovery of therapeutic or functional ambulatory capacity in patients with rotator cuff injury is a primary goal of rehabilitation. Wearable powered exoskeletons allow patients to perform repetitive practice with large movements to maximize recovery, even immediately after the acute event. The aim of this paper is to describe the usability, acceptability and acceptance of a hybrid exoskeleton for upper-limb passive rehabilitation using the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire. This equipment, called ExoFlex, is defined as a hybrid exoskeleton since it is made up of rigid and soft components. The exoskeleton mechanical description is presented along with its control system and the way motion is structured in rehabilitation sessions. Seven patients (six women and one man) have participated in the evaluation of this equipment, which are in the range of 50 to 79 years old. Preliminary evidence of the acceptance and usability by both patients and clinicians are very promising, obtaining an average score of 80.71 in the SUS test, as well as good results in a questionnaire that evaluates the clinicians’ perceived usability of ExoFlex. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Recent Advances in Robotics and Networks)

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