Feasibility of using depth cameras for evaluating human - exoskeleton interaction

Abstract

With the increased use of exoskeletons in a variety of fields such as industry, military, and health care, there is a need for measurement standards to understand the effects of exoskeletons on human motion. Optical tracking systems (OTS) provide high accuracy human motion tracking, but are expensive, require markers, and constrain the tests to a specified area where the cameras can provide sufficient coverage. This study describes the feasibility of using lower cost, portable, markerless depth camera systems for measuring human and exoskeleton 3-dimensional (3D) joint positions and angles. A human performing a variety of industrial tasks while wearing three different exoskeletons was tracked by both an OTS with modified skeletal models and a depth camera body tracking system. A comparison of the acquired data was then used to facilitate discussions regarding the potential use of depth cameras for exoskeleton evaluation.