ASTM International Exo Technology Center of Excellence:First Round of Research to Standards ProjectsBorislav (Bobby) MarinovCEO Exoskeleton Report, ASTM ET CoE Founding Member, F48 Executive Member

Exo-Ergo 2020, November 25, 2020

What is ASTM?• Established in 1898• 150 Committees & 13,000+ Standards• 33,000 members• 8,000+ International Members from 135 countries• 5,100 ASTM standards used in 75 countries• ‘Audited Designator’ accreditation: American National

Standards Institute (ANSI)• Process complies with WTO principles: Annex 4 of WTO/TBT

Agreement• All stakeholders involved (Public & Private Sector Cooperation)• Consensus-based procedures• One organization = one vote

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F48 Exoskeletons and ExosuitsOrganized September 2017 to address safety, quality, performance, ergonomics and terminology for systems and components during the full life cycle of the product.

Current roster is 170+ members from 16 countries

SubcommitteesF48.01 Design and Manufacturing F48.02 Human Factors and ErgonomicsF48.03 Task Performance and Environmental ConsiderationsF48.04 Maintenance and Disposal F48.05 Security and Information Technology F48.06 Insurance and LiabilityF48.90 ExecutiveF48.90.05 Innovation and ResearchF48.91 Terminology

Industries Impactedv Industrialv Medicalv Militaryv Emergency Responderv Consumer

Technical Aspectsv Passive & Active Systemsv Enhancing and Decreasing Effects v Physical & Cognitive Augmentation

Life Cycle Approachv Before it’s on a Personv Donning and doffingv On the User and In Usev After its been Usedv Software, Reporting, Communications

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Exo Technology Center of Excellence (ET CoE)

https://www.etcoe.org

Created in 2019 to build, connect, and energize exo technology research, standards, and applications.

A collaborative effort between ASTM and F48.

Focus on Research to Standards to help people trust exoskeletons and increase their proliferation.

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ET CoE: Research to Standards Projects

https://www.etcoe.org

First request for proposals was held from March 27, 2020 to May 15, 2020. Total budget of ~$120k. Timeline of ~9 months.

Goal: advance new standards, revise existing standards, and address lagging work items

Focus on:• How do we design-in safety to exo technologies and promote safe

practices across the community?• How do we objectively measure the performance, safety, and reliability

of exo technologies?• How do we determine the proper fit of the technology to the user and

task?• What process do we use to determine where to employ exo

technologies?• How does the community recycle the data, lessons learned, and

innovations into the next generation of exo technologies?• How does the community bring down the barriers through business

models/support channels to allow more people/organizations to trial and implement the devices?

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ET CoE: Four Current Projects

https://www.etcoe.org

In Alphabetical Order:Team University of Massachusetts Lowell: PeiChun Kao and Adam Norton, UMASS Lowell - New England Robotics Validation & Experimentation Center (NERVE), Development and Standardization of Exoskeleton Test Methods for Mobility on Variable Terrains

Team University of Michigan: Leia Stirling, Robert Gregg, and Elliot Rouse, University of Michigan - Center of Ergonomics, Test Method Definition for Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Locomotion Transitions

Team Texas Tech University: HeeSun Choi, Texas Tech University, Towards the Development of Test Methods and Measures for Evaluating Cognitive Fit of Exoskeletons

Team Vanderbilt: Karl Zelik and Michael Goldfarb, Vanderbilt University, Development of a New Exoskeleton Safety Standard for Assessing User Fall-Risk due to Stumbling

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Development and Standardization ofof Exoskeleton Test Methods for Mobility on Variable Terrains

University of Massachusetts Lowell

New England Robotics Validation and Experimentation (NERVE) Center

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Development and Standardization ofof Exoskeleton Test Methods for Mobility on Variable TerrainsPlenty of research exists on exoskeletons over treadmills and other lab settings, but what about variable terrain?

Focus on test method and practices of evaluation exoskeletons on variable terrain:• Slopes• Variable structure

• Bricks• Cobblestones• Sand• Gravel

• Variable elevation (inclines, stairs)• Variable Movement

• Over and around obstacles

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Development and Standardization ofof Exoskeleton Test Methods for Mobility on Variable TerrainsDeliverables:

• Literature review of common techniques for evaluating exoskeleton mobility

• Set of apparatus designs and associated metrics that can be easily reproduced and used to evaluate exo mobility (obstacle courses, sand pit, etc…)

• Protocol on integrating the human exoskeleton user in the test procedure

• Draft standard and all relevant supporting data and designs

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Test Method Definition for Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Locomotion Transitions

University of Michigan

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Test Method Definition for Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Locomotion TransitionsUniversity of Michigan, complementary to the NERVE efforts but specifically focused on the transition between terrain.

• Emphasis not on all but relevant transitions like stair, curves, entry ways.

• Conduct a literature review of metrics and assessment of relevant environments.

• Design an obstacle course is easy to replicate, assemble and disassemble.

• Define or create metrics related to usability and ergonomic factors.• Special attention to differentiating between direct and perceived measures.

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Towards the Development of Test Methods and Measures for Evaluating Cognitive Fit of Exoskeletons

Texas Tech University

Applied Cognition and Safety Lab

HeeSun Choi, Ph.D.Assistant ProfessorHuman Factors Psychology

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Towards the Development of Test Methods and Measures for Evaluating Cognitive Fit of ExoskeletonsWearable technology like exoskeletons have their safety and usability directly connected with the user’s cognitive fit.

Do exoskeletons have a negative impact on the user’s cognitive function during or after wearing an exoskeleton?

Projects aims at creating a test method and measures for cognitive fit of exoskeletons.

Investigate deteriorations in attention using self-reported measures, recorded performance and eye-tracking measures.

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Development of a New Exoskeleton Safety Standard for Assessing User Fall-Risk due to Stumbling

Vanderbilt University

Karl Zelik, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Michael Goldfarb, Ph.D.Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

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What is effect on how people recover from stumble perturbations with an exoskeleton?

Current research utilizes a treadmill that drops steel block while measuring the response by the user. The added obstacle is added at random without the test subject being able to see, hear or feel it in advance. The obstacle entering the treadmill was independently tested and with all 7 users none of them could detect the incoming obstacle.

Currently used on prosthesis testing but can be applied to exoskeletons.

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Development of a New Exoskeleton Safety Standard for Assessing User Fall-Risk due to Stumbling