Mon, 12 August, 2024
An exciting, multi-disciplinary initiative in the field of soft robotics is being spearheaded by a collaborative consortium of UK and EU-based companies and organisations, including the Brunel Innovation Centre (BIC), a strategic, industrial research partnership between Brunel University London and TWI, established in 2009, and TWI Hellas, TWI’s office in Athens, Greece, formed in 2019.
The SWAG project: Soft, wearable, assistive garments for human empowerment, is developing a smart, human-centric, lower-limb exosuit, designed to be worn by individuals who need occupational assistance or support with their daily activities and/or fitness. Exo-suits, also known as exoskeletons, are usually composed of hard materials such as metals, plastics and fibres. The SWAG exosuit, however, aims to replace these rigid models with a softer, more comfortable and lightweight option that combines high-strength, inflatable fabric with sensing film. When worn under clothing, it will be virtually undetectable due to its garment-like qualities.
Technologies being developed for the SWAG solution address a number of limitations associated with current, wearable robotics such as their dependency on tethered operation, lack of suitable power supply, inability to function consistently in real-world situations and unreliability of response to unexpected outputs and interactions.
Therefore, the project consortium’s unique, multidisciplinary approach centres on artificial intelligence (AI), uniting soft design with embedded sensing, distributed control, functional apparel, biomechanical modelling and materials science. In combination with personalised, real-time motion assistance, and user-intent prediction algorithms based on data-driven models, this will ensure accurate, adaptive support for a variety of movements. Meanwhile, a single pneumatic power source with a closed pneumatic circuit will efficiently recycle air, eliminating the need for tethered operation, while simultaneously supporting muscles and joints through the entire lower limb system.
The thirteen members of the SWAG consortium, alongside BIC and TWI Hellas, who is also the Project Co-ordinator, are Hellenic Mediterranean University, Bendabl, Heidelberg University, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, IUVO, Eurecat, Jožef Stefan Institute, University of Twente, Roessingh Research and Development, University of Hertfordshire and Imperial College London. The partners, who between them represent six EU countries and the UK, commenced the project in November 2023 following the success of their collaborative proposal in winning grant funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.
Katerina Smyrli, TWI Hellas’ Technical Manager for the project said “The consortium partners are taking the design of soft robotics in an innovative, exciting direction, with the aim of setting a new benchmark for motion assistive technologies. The SWAG exosuit will provide cover and support for entire body regions rather than being limited to individual joints, and the use of optimised, inflatable fabrics will allow for freer movement whilst also ensuring the safety of the user.”
The SWAG project secured funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe programme under grant agreement No. 101120408 and has a two year duration.
Visit the SWAG website to take a more in-depth look at the project.