Verdel, D., Sahm, G., Bastide, S., Bruneau, O., Berret, B., & Vignais, N. (2022) Influence of the physical interface on the quality of human-exoskeleton interaction. IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems, [link]
Abstract: Despite exoskeletons becoming widespread tools in
industrial applications, the impact of the design of humanexoskeleton
physical interfaces has received little attention. The
present study aims at thoroughly quantifying the influence of
different physical human-exoskeleton interfaces on subjective and
objective biomechanical parameters. To this aim, 18 participants
performed elbow flexion/extension movements while wearing an
active exoskeleton with three different physical interfaces: a strap
without any degree of freedom, a thermoformed orthosis with
one (translation) and three degrees of freedom (translation and
rotations). Interaction efforts, kinematic parameters, electromyographic
activities and subjective feelings were collected and
examined during the experiment. Results showed that increasing
the interaction area is necessary to improve the interaction
quality at a subjective level. The addition of passive degrees
of freedom allows significant improvements on both subjective
and objective measurements. Outcomes of the present study may
provide fundamental insights to select physical interfaces when
designing future exoskeletons.
