SMART BED AND CONTACT IMPACT OF FLEXIBLE BODIES USING ENERGY COMPENSATION METHOD

摘要

This work investigates robotic means to prevent pressure ulcers in human bodies. The smart bed is intended to act as an intelligent assistant to a care-giver that relieves some of the physical and mental burden involved in preventing pressure ulcers. This type of device is needed because of a labor shortage in the nursing field. The smart bed distinguishes itself from the current available measures by redistributing pressure and minimizing shear forces acting on the skin in contact. This is done by using data from the sensor grid installed on the bed surface and actuating the degrees of freedom associated with the smart bed. 
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\nInteraction with human body needs contact and impact analysis. Using computational dynamics and computer simulations, a human body is approximated with a flexible object. By doing impact analysis using energy compensation method, and checking the energy consistency we can study the interaction, and validate the correctness of the results.