Home Oxygen Therapy (H.O.T.) is a medical treatment for severe lung diseases in which the patients are supplied concentrated oxygen. This paper investigates the use of a follower robot as a support device for H.O.T. patients, consisting of a two-wheeled differential drive robot connected to the user by tether. Two different control algorithms were studied using dynamic simulation and motion capture experiments with healthy subjects. In further experiments with H.O.T. patients, including a questionnaire survey, it was confirmed that Follow the Leader control was capable of following the user's trajectory more accurately than Pseudo-Joystick control, and that overall H.O.T. patients showed a preference for Follow the Leader control.
Home Oxygen Therapy is a medical treatment for patients suffering from severe lung diseases. High purity oxygen is usually supplied to the nose via cannula (air tube), and it can give patients a high quality of life outside of hospital. However, whenever patients go out they must carry portable oxygen equipment which typically weighs about 4kg. In order to support H.O.T. patients, we have proposed a mobile following robot to carry the heavy oxygen equipment, consisting of two active differential drive wheels and two passive wheels connected by two parallel linkage mechanisms so as to form a rocker-bogie mechanism to negotiate a step or bump sideways. A tether interface is introduced to achieve robust measurement of the relative position of the user with respect to the robot. In this paper, we evaluate the size of the robot taken on public transportation. Moreover, an initial evaluation of the robot by Home Oxygen Therapy patient on a public road is reported, suggesting effectiveness in reducing the physical burden of the patient.
Hyper-Tether is a highly functional system which uses tethers to connect a wide range of robots, vehicles and humans. Home Oxygen Therapy (H.O.T.) is a medical treatment for severe lung diseases in which the patients are supplied concentrated oxygen through a cannula. The need to carry a portable oxygen supply device limits the quality of life of the patients, and so we have designed a robot follower using Hyper-Tether. The robot, which can carry an oxygen tank and follow behind the patient, was tested by H.O.T. users and evaluated using questionnaires. This paper describes the development and testing of the robot follower, with particular focus on iterative design based on patients' feedback.
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