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With the popularity of high-rise buildings, wall inspection and cleaning are becoming more difficult and associated with danger. The best solution is to replace manual work with wall-climbing robots. Therefore, this paper proposes a design method for a rolling-adsorption wall-climbing robot (RWCR) based on vacuum negative pressure adsorption of the crawler. It can improve the operation efficiency while solving the safety problems.

The pulleys and tracks are used to form a dynamic sealing chamber to improve the dynamic adsorption effect and motion flexibility of the RWCR. The mapping relationship between the critical minimum adsorption force required for RWCR downward slip, longitudinal tipping and lateral overturning conditions for tipping and the wall inclination angle is calculated using the ultimate force method. The pressure and gas flow rate distribution of the negative pressure chamber under different slit heights of the negative pressure mechanism is analysed by the fluid dynamics software to derive the minimum negative pressure value that the fan needs to provide.

Simulation and test results show that the load capacity of the RWCR can reach up to 6.2 kg on the smooth glass wall, and the maximum load in the case of lateral movement is 4.2 kg, which verifies the rationality and effectiveness of the design.

This paper presents a new design method of a RWCR for different rough wall surfaces and analyses the ultimate force state and hydrodynamic characteristics.

This paper aims to propose a bilateral robotic system for lower extremity hemiparesis rehabilitation. The hemiplegic patients can complete rehabilitation exercise voluntarily with the assistance of the robot. The reinforcement learning is included in the robot control system, enhancing the muscle activation of the impaired limbs (ILs) efficiently with ensuring the patients’ safety.

A bilateral leader–follower robotic system is constructed for lower extremity hemiparesis rehabilitation, where the leader robot interacts with the healthy limb (HL) and the follow robot is worn by the IL. The therapeutic training is transferred from the HL to the IL with the assistance of the robot, and the IL follows the motion trajectory prescribed by the HL, which is called the mirror therapy. The model reference adaptive impedance control is used for the leader robot, and the reinforcement learning controller is designed for the follower robot. The reinforcement learning aims to increase the muscle activation of the IL and ensure that its motion can be mastered by the HL for safety. An asynchronous algorithm is designed by improving experience relay to run in parallel on multiple robotic platforms to reduce learning time.

Through clinical tests, the lower extremity hemiplegic patients can rehabilitate with high efficiency using the robotic system. Also, the proposed scheme outperforms other state-of-the-art methods in tracking performance, muscle activation, learning efficiency and rehabilitation efficacy.

Using the aimed robotic system, the lower extremity hemiplegic patients with different movement abilities can obtain better rehabilitation efficacy.

This paper aims to develop a robotic mirror therapy system for lower limb rehabilitation, which is applicable for different patients with individual movement disability levels.

This paper puts forward a novel system that includes a four-degree-of-freedom sitting/lying lower limb rehabilitation robot and a wireless motion data acquisition system based on mirror therapy principle. The magnetorheological (MR) actuators are designed and manufactured, whose characteristics are detected theoretically and experimentally. The passive training control strategy is proposed, and the trajectory tracking experiments verify its feasibility. Also, the active training controller that is adapt to the human motor ability is designed and evaluated by the comparison experiments.

The MR actuators produce continuously variable and compliant torque for robotic joints by adjusting excitation current. The reference limb joint position data collected by the wireless motion data acquisition system can be used as the motion trajectory of the robot to drive the affected limb. The passive training strategy based on proportional-integral control proves to have great trajectory tracking performance through experiments. In the active training mode, by comparing the real-time parameters adjustment in two phases, it is certified that the proposed fuzzy-based regulated impedance controller can adjust assistance torque according to the motor ability of the affected limb.

The system developed in this paper fulfills the needs of robot-assisted mirror therapy for hemiplegic patients.

In recent years, there has been significant interest in adopting XR (extended reality) technologies such as VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality), particularly in retail. However, extending activities through reality-mediation is still mostly believed to offer an inferior experience due to their shortcomings in usability, wearability, graphical fidelity, etc. This study aims to address the research gap by experimentally examining the acceptance of metaverse shopping.

This study conducts a 2 (VR: with vs. without) × 2 (AR: with vs. without) between-subjects laboratory experiment involving 157 participants in simulated daily shopping environments. This study builds a physical brick-and-mortar store at the campus and stocked it with approximately 600 products with accompanying product information and pricing. The XR devices and a 3D laser scanner were used in constructing the three XR shopping conditions.

Results indicate that XR can offer an experience comparable to, or even surpassing, traditional shopping in terms of its instrumental and hedonic aspects, regardless of a slightly reduced perception of usability. AR negatively affected perceived ease of use, while VR significantly increased perceived enjoyment. It is surprising that the lower perceived ease of use appeared to be disconnected from the attitude toward metaverse shopping.

This study provides important experimental evidence on the acceptance of XR shopping, and the finding that low perceived ease of use may not always be detrimental adds to the theory of technology adoption as a whole. Additionally, it provides an important reference point for future randomized controlled studies exploring the effects of technology on adoption.