Objectives and Implementation - Evryon Project

Go to content

Main menu

Objectives and Implementation

The Project
The Evryon project (Evolving Morphologies for Human-Robot Symbiotic Interaction) is a research project funded by the European Commission in the Seventh Framework Programme (Proposal/Contract number FP7-ICT-2007-3-231451).
The Evryon project aims at providing a novel design methodology for harvesting the potentialities of structural intelligence in the development of Wearable Robots, using a design for emergence approach where a symbiotic interaction between the robot and the human body is sought to achieve useful emerging dynamic behaviours.


Methodology

  • Application chosen: active lower limbs orthosis, for restoring a proper gait in aged subjects.

  • Open-ended evolutionary design where both morphology and control are concurrently optimized.

  • Relevant biomechanical properties of the human body are measured.

  • Simulation environment able to reproduce the interaction between the human body and a robot.

  • Preliminary design solutions are simulated with an existing exoskeleton for the lower limbs.

  • WR control is based on Central Pattern Generators.

  • Novel hardware solutions (e.g. VIJs and sensors) and data fusion algorithms are implemented in the WR prototype.

  • Test on a population of aged people, in order to validate the novel design methodology.


Project outputs

  • Simulation environment where both human body and wearable robots can be simulated.

  • Environment, integrating the physics-based simulation environment and an evolutionary algorithm, for the automatic design of morphology and control of wearable robots.

  • Joints with tunable dynamical properties.

  • Artificial sensors for human-robot interaction monitoring.

  • Control techniques for the optimization of human-robot symbiotic interaction of a lower limbs wearable robot for restoring walking capabilities of aged subjects.


WP Implementations
The project work has been organised in 10 Work Packages (WPs). WP1 and WP8 include management activities. In particular, WP8 is devoted to exploitation and dissemination activities. The core RTD technologies and design methodologies will be developed in WP2, .., WP7 and WP9, WP10. Each WP hinges around the core competence of one Partner, who is the leader of that WP. Obviously each partner has more than one core competence. Therefore, a suitable number of man-months has been allocated to allow the cooperation among partners on topics which are of common interest (see WPs description) and to achieve the best results allowed by the quality of the consortium.


WP

WP Leader

Core competence / technology in the EVRYON project

Main outputs / expected achievements of the WP

2

TUD

Biomechanics of the human body; human body motor patterns; multi-body dynamic simulations.

•    Biomechanical model of the intrinsic (i.e. When no motor command is taken into account) properties of the human body
•    Biomechanical model of the active (i.e. When motor commands tune joints impedance) human body
•    Software for simulating the human body dynamically interacting with the active WR

3

UT

Exoskeletons for the lower limbs; CPG control; human biomechanics.

•    Measurements of the intrinsic biomechanical properties of the human body
•    Measurements of the biomechanical properties of the active human body
•    Testing virtual (i.e. Not yet physically built) WRs by suitably programming and adapting the LOPES to be dynamically equivalent to the WR

4

EPFL

Morphology and control co-design; evolutionary techniques; genetic algorithms; neural networks.

•    Development of co-evolution algorithm.
•    Development of the physics-based Evolutive Environment
•    Design of WR by co-evolution of morphology and control

5

UNICAMPUS

Human-centered design techniques; development of robots for the safe human-robot interaction

•    Development of VIJ
•    Detailed design and fabrication of the WR
•    System integration (sensors and control)

6

SSSA

Robotics sensors and control; data fusion

•    Development the sensory system (novel sensors for the WR and dedicated sensory fusion techniques)
•    Development of adaptive high level control
•    Development of low level control

7

UNICAMPUS

Robotics; physical therapy

•Experimental validation of the EVRYON platform.

9

BME

Human-centered design; robotics; sensors and control

•    Development of an actively controlled hip module for the EVRYON WR
•    Design and development of the sensory system of the hip module
• Development of an actively controlled ankle module

10

UL

Robotics; sensors and control

•    Design and development of the sensory system for upper and lower body coordination
•    Implementation of a control scheme for the upper and lower body coordination
Back to content | Back to main menu