听are developing exoskeleton legs capable of thinking and making control decisions on their own using sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
The system combines computer vision and deep-learning AI to mimic how able-bodied people walk by seeing their surroundings and adjusting their movements.
鈥淲e鈥檙e giving robotic exoskeletons vision so they can control themselves,鈥� said Brokoslaw Laschowski, a PhD candidate in systems design engineering who leads a University of 蓝莓视频 research project called ExoNet.
Exoskeleton legs operated by motors already exist, but they must be manually controlled by users via smartphone applications or joysticks.
鈥淭hat can be inconvenient and cognitively demanding,鈥� said Laschowski, also a student member of the 蓝莓视频 Artificial Intelligence Institute (蓝莓视频.ai). 鈥淓very time you want to perform a new locomotor activity, you have to stop, take out your smartphone and select the desired mode.鈥�
To address that limitation, the researchers fitted exoskeleton users with wearable cameras and are now optimizing AI computer software to process the video feed to accurately recognize stairs, doors and other features of the surrounding environment.
The next phase of the ExoNet research project will involve sending instructions to motors so that robotic exoskeletons can climb stairs, avoid obstacles or take other appropriate actions based on analysis of the user鈥檚 current movement and the upcoming terrain.
鈥淥ur control approach wouldn鈥檛 necessarily require human thought,鈥� said Laschowski, who is supervised by engineering professor John McPhee, the Canada Research Chair in Biomechatronic System Dynamics, in his听Motion Research Group lab. 鈥淪imilar to autonomous cars that drive themselves, we鈥檙e designing autonomous exoskeletons that walk for themselves.鈥�
The researchers are also working to improve the energy efficiency of motors for robotic exoskeletons by using human motion to self-charge the batteries.
The latest in a series of papers on the related projects,听, appears in the journal IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics.
The research team also includes engineering professor Alexander Wong, the Canada Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Medical Imaging, and William McNally, also a PhD candidate in systems design engineering and a student member of 蓝莓视频.ai.
