Kinematic and Experimental Evaluation of Commercial Wheelchair-Mounted Robotic Arms by John William Capille, Jr. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering College of Engineering University of South Florida Major Professor: Rajiv Dubey, Ph.D. Redwan Alqasemi, Ph.D. Stephanie Carey, Ph.D. Nathan Crane, Ph.D. Date of Approval: October 15th 2010 Keywords: assistive, design, manipulator, rehabilitation, comparison Copyright © 2010, John William Capille, Jr. Dedication I dedicate this work to my colleagues, friends, and family who constantly inspire me and give me the courage and drive to succeed. Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge my committee members for their contributions to this work. To Dr. Rajiv Dubey, for allowing me to pursue this project and his financial support. To Dr. Redwan Alqasemi, for his insight and guidance throughout this project. To Dr. Stephanie Carey, for her contribution to my understanding of working with participants and certification processes. To Dr. Nathan Crane, for his interest in this work. I would like to acknowledge my colleagues, Derek Lura and Karan Khokar. Their assistance in programming, robotic theory, and experience in high academics was critical to the success of this project. And to Shawn Gicka, for being willing and eager to assist in project protocols and performing his role as Key Safety Personnel. Table of Contents List of Tables ........................................................................................................ iii List of Figures .......................................................................................................iv Abstract ............................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................ 1 1.1 Motivation ............................................................................................... 1 1.2 Goals ...................................................................................................... 3 Chapter 2 Background ............................................................................... 5 2.1 Rehabilitation Robotics ........................................................................... 5 2.1.1 Workstations ..................................................................................... 6 2.1.2 Rail-Mounted Manipulators ............................................................... 7 2.1.3 Mobile Robots and Mobile Manipulators ........................................... 8 2.1.3.1 WMRAs .................................................................................... 11 2.2 WMRA Design Considerations ............................................................. 11 2.2.1 Mobility ............................................................................................ 12 2.2.2 Control ............................................................................................ 13 2.3 Research WMRA Designs .................................................................... 13 2.3.1 KARES-II ........................................................................................ 14 2.3.2 PerMMA .......................................................................................... 15 2.3.3 Weston ............................................................................................ 16 2.3.4 WMRA-I .......................................................................................... 18 2.3.5 WMRA-II ......................................................................................... 20 2.4 Commercial WMRA Designs ................................................................ 22 2.4.1 iARM ............................................................................................... 23 2.4.2 JACO .............................................................................................. 26 2.4.3 Raptor ............................................................................................. 29 Chapter 3 Evaluation Procedures ............................................................ 32 3.1 Theoretical Kinematic Analysis ............................................................ 32 3.1.1 Previous Work................................................................................. 33 3.1.2 Forward Kinematics ........................................................................ 34 3.1.3 Jacobians ........................................................................................ 37 3.1.4 Manipulability .................................................................................. 39 3.1.5 Determination of Workspace ........................................................... 40 3.1.6 MATLAB Kinematic Manipulability Program ................................... 44 i 3.2 Experimental Analysis .......................................................................... 44 3.2.1 Simulation of Real Environment ...................................................... 46 3.2.1.1 Tasks ........................................................................................ 46 3.2.1.2 PMMP ...................................................................................... 48 3.2.2 Quantitative Data ............................................................................ 51 3.2.2.1 Time of Performance ................................................................ 51 3.2.2.2 Ease of Use .............................................................................. 52 3.2.3 Study Protocols ............................................................................... 53 3.2.3.1 Pre Testing ............................................................................... 53 3.2.3.2 During Testing .......................................................................... 55 3.2.3.3 Post Testing ............................................................................. 58 Chapter 4 Outcomes ................................................................................ 59 4.1 Theoretical Results............................................................................... 59 4.1.1 Vertical Planes ................................................................................ 61 4.1.2 Horizontal Planes ............................................................................ 82 4.2 Experimental Results ........................................................................... 99 4.2.1 Time of Performance .................................................................... 100 4.2.1.1 Tabletop Drink ........................................................................ 101 4.2.1.2 Flip-Toggle Light Switch ......................................................... 107 4.2.1.3 Low Cabinet Door ................................................................... 109 4.2.1.4 Personnel Door with Knob ...................................................... 112 4.2.1.5 Cumulative Average Time of Performance ............................. 116 4.2.2 Ease of Use .................................................................................. 117 4.2.2.1 Tabletop Drink ........................................................................ 118 4.2.2.2 Flip-Toggle Light Switch ......................................................... 121 4.2.2.3 Low Cabinet Door ................................................................... 123 4.2.2.4 Personnel Door with Knob ...................................................... 126 4.2.2.5 Cumulative Average Ease of Use ........................................... 127 Chapter 5 Design Highlight and Recommendations .............................. 132 5.1 iARM .................................................................................................. 132 5.2 JACO .................................................................................................. 136 Chapter 6 Summary and Future Work ....................................................... 140 6.1 Highlight and Recommendations ....................................................... 140 6.2 Limitations .......................................................................................... 141 6.3 Future Work ....................................................................................... 142 References ....................................................................................................... 143 APPENDICES .................................................................................................. 147 Appendix A MATLAB Programs and Functions ......................................... 148 Appendix B Manipulability Test Program Results ...................................... 157 Appendix C Sample Experimental Survey ................................................. 165 ii List of Tables Table 1 - Results of desirability survey for WMRAs in the U.S. (2) ....................... 2 Table 2 - Wheelchair-dependent participant information .................................... 45 Table 3 - Initial task pool ..................................................................................... 47 Table 4 - Selected research and development entities and technologies ........... 50 Table 5 - iARM and JACO D-H parameters ........................................................ 60 Table 6 - Normalized manipulability classification .............................................. 61 Table