Dr Jan Veneman is employed by Hocoma AG. All other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regards to the Research Topic subject.

The concepts represented in this textbook are explored for the first time in assistive and rehabilitation robotics, which is the combination of physical, cognitive, and social human-robot interaction to empower gait rehabilitation and assist human mobility. The aim is to consolidate the methodologies, modules, and technologies implemented in lower-limb exoskeletons, smart walkers, and social robots when human gait assistance and rehabilitation are the primary targets. This book presents the combination of emergent technologies in healthcare applications and robotics science, such as soft robotics, force control, novel sensing methods, brain-computer interfaces, serious games, automatic learning, and motion planning. From the clinical perspective, case studies are presented for testing and evaluating how those robots interact with humans, analyzing acceptance, perception, biomechanics factors, and physiological mechanisms of recovery during the robotic assistance or therapy. Interfacing Humans and Robots for Gait Assistance and Rehabilitation will enable undergraduate and graduate students of biomedical engineering, rehabilitation engineering, robotics, and health sciences to understand the clinical needs, technology, and science of human-robot interaction behind robotic devices for rehabilitation, and the evidence and implications related to the implementation of those devices in actual therapy and daily life applications.

Neuro-robotics is one of the most multidisciplinary fields of the last decades, fusing information and knowledge from neuroscience, engineering and computer science. This book focuses on the results from the strategic alliance between Neuroscience and Robotics that help the scientific community to better understand the brain as well as design robotic devices and algorithms for interfacing humans and robots. The first part of the book introduces the idea of neuro-robotics, by presenting state-of-the-art bio-inspired devices. The second part of the book focuses on human-machine interfaces for performance augmentation, which can seen as augmentation of abilities of healthy subjects or assistance in case of the mobility impaired. The third part of the book focuses on the inverse problem, i.e. how we can use robotic devices that physically interact with the human body, in order (a) to understand human motor control and (b) to provide therapy to neurologically impaired people or people with disabilities.

One of the major application targets of service robots is to use them as assistive devices for rehabilitation. This book introduces some latest achievements in the field of rehabilitation robotics and assistive technology for people with disabilities and aged people. The book contains results from both theoretical and experimental works and reviews on some new advanced rehabilitation devices which has been recently transferred to the industry. Significant parts of the book are devoted to the assessment of new rehabilitation technologies, the evaluation of prototype devices with end-users, the safety of rehabilitation robots, and robot-assisted neurorehabilitation. The book is a representative selection of the latest trends in rehabilitation robotics and can be used as a reference for teaching on mechatronic devices for rehabilitation.

The development and application of assistive technology can help those with reduced abilities improve their quality of life and reduce their dependence on others. Written in layman’s terms, Devices for Mobility and Manipulation for People with Reduced Abilities provides research and information on assistive technologies for non-technical people. While it highlights various mobility and manipulative technologies, with the exception of specific examples within the text, it keeps technical terminology, equations, and software details to a minimum. It presents technical material in a digestible way for people with reduced abilities as well as for their caregivers. Each chapter covers a specific technology, and starts with a general introduction of that technology, followed by the technical details and an assessment from the user’s viewpoint. This includes the user benefits and suitability, cost, reliability, and required infrastructure. The chapter also provides illustrations or photographs of the devices, and identifies shortcomings, current research related to the technology, and possible development opportunities. Each chapter provides the range of specifications for the equipment and includes a list of manufacturers. Discusses user advantages and conditions Examines technologies for robotic wheelchairs and prostheses Helps a clinician or user understand the different devices that support people with disabilities This book provides clinicians, users, and engineers with the details of different technologies, and also includes a guide to the technology that underpins each of these devices, making it easier for people to understand the devices. References are also included for scientists, designers, and other tech-savvy professionals interested in further information.

The goal of this book is to close the gap between high technology and accessibility for people having lost their independence due to the loss of physical and/or cognitive capabilities. Robots and mechatronic devices bring the opportunity to improve the autonomy of disabled people and facilitate their social and professional integration by assisting them to perform daily living tasks. Technical topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Communication and learning applications in SCI an CP, Interface and Internet-based designs, Issues in human-machine interaction, Personal robotics, Hardware and control, Evaluation methods, Clinical experience, Orthotics and prosthetics, Robotics for older adults, Service robotics, Movement physiology and motor control.

INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS FOR REHABILITATION ENGINEERING Encapsulates different case studies where technology can be used as assistive technology for the physically challenged, visually and hearing impaired. Rehabilitation engineering includes the development of technological solutions and devices to assist individuals with disabilities, while also supporting the recovery of the disabled who have lost their physical and cognitive functions. These systems can be designed and built to meet a wide range of needs that can help individuals with mobility, communication, vision, hearing, and cognition. The growing technological developments in machine learning, deep learning, robotics, virtual intelligence, etc., play an important role in rehabilitation engineering. Intelligent Systems for Rehabilitation Engineering focuses on trending research of intelligent systems in rehabilitation engineering which involves the design and development of innovative technologies and techniques including rehabilitation robotics, visual rehabilitation, physical prosthetics, brain computer interfaces, sensory rehabilitation, motion rehabilitation, etc. This groundbreaking book Provides a comprehensive reference covering different computer assistive techniques for the physically disabled, visually and hearing impaired. Focuses on trending research of intelligent systems in rehabilitation engineering which involves the design and development of innovative technologies and techniques. Provides insights into the role of intelligent systems in rehabilitation engineering. Audience Engineers and device manufacturers working in rehabilitation engineering as well as researchers in computer science, artificial intelligence, electronic engineering, who are working on intelligent systems.

In nowadays aging society, many people require mobility assistance. Sometimes, assistive devices need a certain degree of autonomy when users' disabilities difficult manual control. However, clinicians report that excessive assistance may lead to loss of residual skills and frustration. Shared control focuses on deciding when users need help and providing it. Collaborative control aims at giving just the right amount of help in a transparent, seamless way. This book presents the collaborative control paradigm. User performance may be indicative of physical/cognitive condition, so it is used to decide how much help is needed. Besides, collaborative control integrates machine and user commands so that people contribute to self-motion at all times. Collaborative control was extensively tested for 3 years using a robotized wheelchair at a rehabilitation hospital in Rome with volunteer inpatients presenting different disabilities, ranging from mild to severe. We also present a taxonomy of common metrics for wheelchair navigation and tests are evaluated accordingly. Obtained results are coherent both from a quantitative and qualitative point of view.

This book presents the development of a new multimodal human-robot interface for testing and validating control strategies applied to robotic walkers for assisting human mobility and gait rehabilitation. The aim is to achieve a closer interaction between the robotic device and the individual, empowering the rehabilitation potential of such devices in clinical applications. A new multimodal human-robot interface for testing and validating control strategies applied to robotic walkers for assisting human mobility and gait rehabilitation is presented. Trends and opportunities for future advances in the field of assistive locomotion via the development of hybrid solutions based on the combination of smart walkers and biomechatronic exoskeletons are also discussed.

This book reports on the development of different control tools for Brain-machine interface-based assistance and rehabilitation. Brain activity is analyzed with the purpose of classify mental tasks and detecting movement intentions in patients with impaired motility. Event-Related Desynchronization (ERD) and Event-Related Synchronization (ERS) are detected. Throughout this book, different control systems are presented and validated. This thesis, examined at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Spain, in 2016, received the award for best thesis in bioengineering from the Bioengineering group of the Spanish Committee of Automatic Control (CEA) in 2017.