We work on mobility to improve the lives of paraplegic people, from assistive technologies for wheelchairs to offering new and alternative ways to have fun or exercise.
ADAPT
ADAPT stands for Assistive devices for empowering disabled people through robotic technologies. This project started in 2017. It has 16 partners (eight in England, eight in France) and focuses on four main topics.
Smart and connected Electrically Powered Wheelchairs (EPW) with driving assistance technologies and ability to report users' health by internet. This system will benefit severely disabled users and enable health professionals to monitor changes in user health.
EPW Simulator platform using virtual reality to give users an immersive experience of the Smart and Connected EPW and train them to drive. Professionals will assess the suitability of the EPW for patients and environments and gain understanding of the user perspective.
Training of healthcare professionals in AT/SAR. This novel training provision addresses a gap in current healthcare education. Project platforms will be captured in training protocols for the benefit of users and healthcare providers.
Formal agreements between research institutions and companies built through 20 events ranging from local to international meetings for promoting and disseminating ADAPT's results, creating synergies, identifying points of convergence for common studies to boost R&D and favour the spread of ADAPT's AT/SAR to the market.
Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's main contributions to the project concern the "adaptive shared control" algorithms that provide appropriate assistance to users of smart electrically powered wheelchairs. The expected result is a prototype Smart Wheelchair featuring this framework that will help users drive safely and effectively.
We equipped a recumbent tricycle modified for FES cycling (functional electrical stimulation) with different systems. Electrical stimulation means patients with spinal injuries can ride and continue to do physical exercise. We changed mechanical variables such as frictional resistance and ankle freedom.
Our internship students studied the impact of these variables on riding performance to determine so we could optimise them. They also developed interfaces to record synchronized data from sensors via a Matlab interface.
We developed a low-cost tool (MoRe-T2) that uses standard webcams or CCTV cameras to track the trajectories of people, wheelchairs and scooters in an accessibility and mobility research environment.
Custom printed QR-type codes (on ordinary paper) are attached to participants, mobility devices or any objects of interest that allows us to generate rich and precise datasets.Ìý
MoRe-T2 is deployed in both PAMELA and the Aspire Create lab, where it continues to be used to evaluate wheelchair interfaces.Ìý
Teodorescu, C.S., Zhang, B.Ìý& Carlson, T. (2020). . European Control Conference (ECC), 2020, pp. 1204-1209.
Devigne, L., Aggravi, M., Teodorescu, C.S., Carlson, T., et al. (2020). . IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 13(1),Ìý52-58.
Teodorescu, C., Zhang, B.Ìý& Carlson, T. (2019). . IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics (SMC), 3136-3141.
Ezeh, C., Trautman, P., Holloway, C.Ìý& Carlson, T. (2017). . IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC), 93-98.
Devigne, L., Pasteau, F., Le Borgne, N., Carlson, T., et al. (2018). . Modelling, Measurement and Control C, 79(4), 185-189.
Ezeh, C., Trautman, P., Devigne, L., Carlson, T., et al. (2017). . International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), 835-840.
Ezeh, C.E.M., Holloway, C.Ìý& Carlson, T. (2016). . Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering.
Related courses
About Aspire CREATE
We work to improve the quality of life of people with spinal cord injuries. The Centre for Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology (Aspire CREATE) is aÌýjoint research venture between Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê, the Aspire Charity, and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital.