COVR Research project: Safety of exoskeletons supporting impaired arm function

In early 2020 Focal was awarded with a grant from the #COVRproject to investigate the safety of electrical wheelchair-mounted exoskeletons supporting impaired arm function. Recently, we have successfully completed the work for Milestone 1.

In Milestone 1, the focus has been on developing a structured approach for cobot hazard investigation that is complementary to existing methods. Given the highly varying demands coming from user and environment, and the complex interaction between end user and cobot, we have explored how we can model the human related and product related intended use of the system, the specific user characteristics, and the environmental factors that are important for wheelchair mounted assistive devices.

A key factor in this approach is the link to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) model, a well-known, accepted framework to map the individual user, his/her activities and context factors. Subsequently, we have explored how we can improve our existing risk management approach by further investigating the user related risks associated with this usage.

Looking forward to the continuation of the project!

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 779966.