Abstracts From the IFESS 2022 Conferences

Abstract

in recent years, neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation has found many applications both within the medical field and outside. While this technology has been widely recognized as a valid tool for rehabilitative and assistive applications, most solutions presented in the literature seem to focus on highly specific cases and facilitate very selective movements. In this article, we present a novel surface stimulation-based prototype which, coupled with an internally designed musculoskeletal model, allows to induce the output of generalized forces at the human endeffector in Cartesian coordinates. The control has been validated here through a 6-axis force-torque sensor coupled with a robotic manipulator. Thus, the measured forces at the user's end-effector were compared to the commanded forces. The results confirm that open-loop control of the output force is possible with an average correlation coefficient between commanded and measured force output direction greater than 0.7. This could eventually provide full, general purpose impedance control of the human neuromuscular system, which would allow to induce arbitrary movements in the peri-personal space.