Crash test-based assessment of injury risks for adults and children when colliding with personal mobility devices and service robots
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Date
2022-03-28
Publication Type
Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
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Abstract
Autonomous mobility devices such as transport, cleaning, and delivery robots, hold a massive economic and social benefit. However, their deployment should not endanger bystanders, particularly vulnerable populations such as children and older adults who are inherently smaller and fragile. This study compared the risks faced by different pedestrian categories and determined risks through crash testing involving a service robot hitting an adult and a child dummy. Results of collisions at 3.1 m/s (11.1 km/h/6.9 mph) showed risks of serious head (14%), neck (20%), and chest (50%) injuries in children, and tibia fracture (33%) in adults. Furthermore, secondary impact analysis resulted in both populations at risk of severe head injuries, namely, from falling to the ground. Our data and simulations show mitigation strategies for reducing impact injury risks below 5% by either lowering the differential speed at impact below 1.5 m/s (5.4 km/h/3.3 mph) or through the usage of absorbent materials. The results presented herein may influence the design of controllers, sensing awareness, and assessment methods for robots and small vehicles standardization, as well as, policymaking and regulations for the speed, design, and usage of these devices in populated areas.
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Publication status
published
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Journal / series
Volume
12 (1)
Pages / Article No.
5285
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Edition / version
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Date collected
Date created
Subject
Safety assessment; Robotics; Personal Mobility devices; Biomechanical testing; Injury severity; Robot Safety; Modeling and simulation; Biomechanics modeling
Organisational unit
03654 - Riener, Robert / Riener, Robert
Notes
Funding
779942 - CROWDBOT (EC)
Related publications and datasets
Is supplemented by: https://youtu.be/ZqWY_lz0HPQIs supplemented by: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5266447Is supplemented by: https://github.com/epfl-lasa/crash-tests-service-robots