Cecilia E. Garcia Cena

• Professor
• Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

The field of bioinspired underwater robots aims to replicate the capabilities of marine animals in artificial systems. Stingrays have emerged as highly promising species to be mimicked because of their flat body morphology and size. Furthermore, they are considered high-performance species due to their maneuverability, propulsion mode, and sliding...

This paper presents a conceptual framework for the development of serious games aimed at cognitive rehabilitation in older adults. Following Jabareen's methodology, a literature review was conducted to identify concepts and theories that are relevant in this field. The resulting framework comprises the use of virtual reality, integration of physica...

Background Video-oculography constitutes a highly-sensitive method of characterizing ocular movements, which could detect subtle premotor changes and contribute to the early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Objective To investigate potential oculomotor differences between idiopathic PD (iPD) and PD associated with the G2019S variant of LRRK2...

In recent decades, the senior adults population worldwide has increased, as well as the medical conditions related to aging, such as cognitive decline. Virtual reality (VR) games are a valuable addition to conventional cognitive rehabilitation as they increase engagement to the therapy through customization, socialization, immersion, and feedback....

In this article we present a simulation framework for the mechatronics development and validation of robotics exoskeletons. The framework is focus on a serial-link upper-limb rehabilitation robots where specific therapies for shoulder, elbow and/or wrist rehabilitation can be simulated and tested prior to be applied on the patient extremity. Such a...

In this publication, it is presented the first diagnostic biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and the behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia (BvFTD) based on machine learning techniques applied to eye movement analysis. Nowadays, the diagnostic of these dementias is clinic, so it is based on the specialist doctor by their own expertise k...

The present work proposes a comprehensive metaheuristic methodology for the development of a medical robot for the upper limb rehabilitation, which includes the topological optimization of the device, kinematic models (5 DOF), human–robot interface, control and experimental tests. This methodology applies two cutting-edge triads: (1) the three poin...

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and frontotemporal dementia, among others, are increasingly prevalent in the global population. The clinical diagnosis of these NDs is based on the detection and characterization of motor and non-motor symptoms. However, when these diagnoses are made,...

This article presents an automatic gaze-tracker system to assist in the detection of minimal hepatic encephalopathy by analyzing eye movements with machine learning tools. To record eye movements, we used video-oculography technology and developed automatic feature-extraction software as well as a machine learning algorithm to assist clinicians in...

This paper shows the dynamic modeling and design of a passivity-based controller for the RV-3SB robot. Firstly, the dynamic modeling of a Mitsubishi RV-3SB robot is conducted using Euler–Lagrange formulation in order to obtain a decoupled dynamic model, considering the actuator orientation besides the position of the analyzed robot. It is important...

Nowadays, the measurement of respiratory dynamics is underrated at clinical setting and in the daily life of a subject and it still represents a challenge from a technical and medical point of view. In this article we propose a concept to measure some of its parameters, such as the respiratory rate (RR), using four inertial sensors. Two different e...

In the last twenty years, a trend towards the digitization of products and processes has been generated, so the new concept of health 4.0 promotes the use of simulators and digital twins for the training of health personnel, as well as for the personalized planning of patients rehabilitation treatments. This paper presents a virtual training tool f...

In this paper is shown the dynamic modeling and design of a passivity based controller for the RV-3SB robot. Firstly, the dynamic modeling of the of the Mitsubishi Rv-3SB robot is done by the Euler-Lagrange formulation in order to obtain a decoupled dynamic model considering the actuators orientation besides the position of this analyzed robot. It...

In underwater environments, ensuring people’s safety is complicated, with potentially life-threatening outcomes, especially when divers have to work in deeper conditions. To improve the available solutions for working with robots in this kind of environment, we propose the validation of a control strategy for robots when taking objects from the sea...

Exploration of the seabed may be complex, and different parameters must be considered for a robotic system to achieve tasks in this environment, such as soil characteristics, seabed gait, and hydrodynamic force in this extreme environment. This paper presents a gait simulation of a quadrupedal robot used on a typical terrigenous sediment seabed, co...

Despite the importance of cognitive function in multiple sclerosis, it is poorly represented in the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), the commonly used clinical measure to assess disability, suggesting that an analysis of eye movement, which is generated by an extensive and well-coordinated functional network that is engaged in cognitive fun...

Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is diagnosed using PHES battery, but other tests are more sensitive, and a simple tool for early MHE detection is required. Assessment of saccadic eye movements is useful for early detection of cognitive alterations in different pathologies. We characterized the alterations in saccadic eye movements in MHE patie...

There is much evidence pointing out eye movement alterations in several neurological diseases. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first video-oculography study describing potential alterations of eye movements in the post-COVID-19 condition. Visually guided saccades, memoryguided saccades, and antisaccades in horizontal axis were measured. I...

Objective Oculomotor tasks can be used to measure volitional control of behavior sensitive to frontal dysfunction. This study aimed to examine the saccadic eye movement in Genetic Generalized Epilepsy (GGE) which could correlate with the abnormality of the frontal lobe or the thalamo-frontal network. Methods Twenty-one patients with GGE were compa...

Currently, a large number of investigations are being carried out in the area of robotics focused on proposing solutions in the field of health, and many of them have directed their efforts on issues related to the health emergency due to COVID-19. Considering that one of the ways to reduce the risk of contagion is by avoiding contact and closeness...

Internet of Things (IoT) has become a valuable tool for connection and information exchange between devices. This book provides a brief introduction to this new field, focuses on wearable medical devices, and covers the basic concepts by providing the reader with enough information to solve various practical problems.

The aim of this article is to present the fuzzy Petri net algorithm and its implementation on the Guide d’etude des modes de marche et d’arrêt (GEMMA) guide paradigm. Additionally, this article presents a brief description of the GEMMA guide paradigm, the fuzzy logic approach, the Petri nets theory, and fuzzy Petri nets. Each algorithm is intended...

Oculomotor behavior can provide insight into the integrity of widespread cortical networks, which may contribute to the differential diagnosis between Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. Three groups of patients with Alzheimer's disease, behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and semantic variant of primary progressive a...

span>Un exoesqueleto robótico es un dispositivo electromecánico utilizado para aumentar la capacidad física de una persona, como ayuda a la locomoción o para procesos de rehabilitación de la marcha. En el caso de los exoesqueletos de rehabilitación se requiere que el sistema de control sea capaz de adaptarse adecuadamente a la evolución del pacient...

In this chapter a comprehensive review of exoskeletons for upper and lower limb rehabilitation is presented. Commercial robots, with an emphasis on the pathologies they deal with, are described and classified using the NASA Technology Readiness Level (TRL) metric. In addition, their type of movements and certifications are presented. Finally, futur...

Motion analysis systems are widely used around the world for many purposes ranging from modeling, sport performance analysis, simulation, gait analysis and more, therefore, it is conceivable to imagine a wide arrange of systems designed for the sole purpose of studying motion. In this article we evaluate the state of the art of 5 different companie...

Lower limb disabilities hinder or impede performing various activities of daily living and productive tasks. Sit to stand (STS) and walking are intrinsically related tasks, and for this reason, the rehabilitation of people with lower limb disabilities includes techniques for both tasks. The purpose of this document is to provide relevant informatio...

Objective: This article presents the healthy pattern of eye movements (EM) in 145 healthy volunteers from 20 to 86 years old. Volunteers were classified in four groups according to their age. A saccadic paradigm, in horizontal and vertical axes, were performed. We described a pattern behavior in healthy volunteers to demonstrate that it can be used...

Objective: In this article, we present the conceptual development of a robotics platform, called ALICE (Assistive Lower Limb Controlled Exoskeleton), for kinetic and kinematic gait characterization. The ALICE platform includes a robotics wearable exoskeleton and an on-board muscle driven simulator to estimate the user's kinetic parameters. Backgr...

This book addresses cutting-edge topics in robotics and related technologies for rehabilitation, covering basic concepts and providing the reader with the information they need to solve various practical problems. Intended as a reference guide to the application of robotics in rehabilitation, it covers e.g. musculoskeletal modelling, gait analysis,...

In this paper, a 3D lower limb musculoskeletal model and simulation of multiple sclerosis disease is presented. The Model was developed using the Musculoskeletal Modeling Software (MSMS), MSMS has the advantage that the model can be exported directly to Simulink allowing us to generate Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) and evaluate different...

Most neurological diseases are usually accompanied by a broad spectrum of oculomotor alterations. Being able to record and analyze these different types of eye movements would be a valuable tool to understand the functional integrity of brain structures. Nowadays, video-oculography is the most widely used eye-movements assessing method. This paper...

Musculoskeletal model is a useful tool to evaluate complex biomechanical problems, simulate and evaluate injuries, estimate muscle-tendon forces, and joint torques during motion and predict the effects of orthopedic surgeries. Moreover, the musculoskeletal model is a rich source of information to develop robotics exoskeleton aiming to restore the n...

This work presents ORTE, an upper limb rehabilitation system that includes: 1) a three-dimensional musculoskeletal model of the upper limb in order to study normal and pathological movements and to simulate a particular shoulder injury and its effect in muscular force, ranges of movement and muscle length changes; and 2) a 5 degrees-of-freedom uppe...

Eye-movement analysis has grown exponentially in recent decades. The reason is that abnormalities in oculomotor movements are usually symptoms of injuries in the nervous system. This paper presents a novel regulated solution named OSCANN. OSCANN aims at providing an innovative tool for the control, management and visualization of oculomotor neurolo...

This work presents the modeling of the MX-64 and RX-64 servomotors from Robotis® and the analysis of their influence in some biomechanical movements for the rehabilitation of the upper brachial plexus injury. The model of each motor was introduced in a musculoskeletal model of the upper limb in order to compare their response and contribution in th...

This work presents a 3D upper limb musculoskeletal model and the simulation of arm rotation for the case of a healthy human subject and one with upper brachial plexus injury (UBPI). Then, the length change in muscles and range of movement was obtained and compare for both cases. The results show a notable difference between the two cases and can be...

El proyecto ORTE se enmarca dentro del área de robótica de rehabilitación. ORTE es una plataforma robotizada de rehabilitación del miembro superior, centrada en devolver la movilidad a las articulaciones del hombro y del codo. ORTE pretende ser una herramienta de ayuda efectiva para el equipo médico de rehabilitación y desde la fase inicial del pro...

The development of motion control algorithms for underwater robots in a real environment is a complex task due to the limited workspace in pools and the low friction in its floor. Experiments in lakes or oceans have the uncertainty of external perturbations, turbidity of water and difficult access to the robot. This research line focusses in the de...

In this work is presented the evolution of the concept of a needle insertion surgery robot. Five different prototypes were proposed, keeping the core concept of decoupling kinematics, and passing from a passive device to an autonomous robot. The kinematics of the mechanisms are presented. The different configurations for the inverse kinematics are...

This work presents the conceptual design, construction and testing of an upper limb rehabilitation system consisting of an exoskeleton of 6 degrees of freedom and a Human Machine Interface (HMI) to configure and control the exoskeleton. We present the study of the kinematics of the mechanical device followed by a three-dimensional modeling. Before...

In this work is presented the experimental identification of friction effects defined by the parameters of the LuGre model. The parameters are found by means of two experiments. The first one is performed with motions at constant velocity and the second one is performed under controlled force. These experiments allow to find separately the set of p...

This work presents the simulation and analysis of the influence of MX-64 and RX-64 servomotors from Robotis® in human shoulder movements related to glenohumeral joint for the case of a subject with upper brachial plexus injury. The model of each motor was introduced in a 3D musculoskeletal model of the upper limb in order to compare their response...

Newton-Raphson (NR) methods have been implemented to find the solution of the Direct Kinematics (DK) problem of Parallel Mechanism (PM) for a long time. However, all the objective functions presented so far are topology-dependent and can not be used for every PM. In this work this topic is addressed by introducing a generic constraint function that...

En este artículo se presenta el desarrollo hardware y software de un sistema de iluminación artificial para cultivos protegidos. El sistema consta de un conjunto de lámparas, circuitos de control de potencia y un sensor de intensidad lumínica, que junto al software desarrollado en LabVIEW®, permiten llevar a cabo el control sobre la cantidad de ene...

This paper addresses the main results obtained during the design and analysis of a cable-driven robot able to simulate the dynamic conditions existing in underwater environment. This work includes the kinematic and dynamic modeling as well as the analysis of the tension of the cables along different trajectories. The low-gravity simulator applicati...

This work presents the modeling of the MX-64 and RX-64 servomotors from Robotis® and the analysis of their influence in some biomechanical movements for the rehabilitation of the upper brachial plexus injury. The model of each motor was introduced in a musculoskeletal model of the upper limb in order to compare their response and contribution in th...

This work presents a 3D upper limb musculoskeletal model and the simulation of arm rotation for the case of a healthy human subject and one with upper brachial plexus injury (UBPI). Then, the length change in muscles, range of movement and muscle force was obtained and compare for both cases. The results show a notable difference between the two ca...

In this work is addressed the topic of estimation of velocity and acceleration from digital position data. It is presented a review of several classic methods and implemented with real position data from a low cost digital sensor of a hydraulic linear actuator. The results are analyzed and compared. It is shown that static methods have a limited ba...

In this work the authors address the problem of robustness of the classic PI controller implemented in a Hydraulic Servo-Actuator (HSA), by presenting a strategy based on the definition of a linear model of the system and the identification of its parameters for different working points. The variation of these parameters is considered as a measure...

This paper presents an online C compiler designed so that students can program their practical assignments in Programming courses. What is really innovative is the self-assessment of the exercises based on black-box tests and train students’ skill to test software. Moreover, this tool lets instructors, not only proposing and classifying practical e...

This paper presents the first musculoskeletal model and simulation of an upper plexus brachial injury. From this model, it is possible to analyze forces and movement ranges in order to develop a robotic exoskeleton to improve rehabilitation. The software that currently exists for musculoskeletal modeling is varied and most have advanced features fo...

This article presents a novel control scheme for bilateral teleoperation of n degree-of-freedom (DOF) nonlinear robotic systems with time-varying communication delay. The bilateral control of the teleoperator system considers the case were the human operator applies a constant force on the local manipulator and when the interaction of the remote ma...

State convergence is a control strategy that was proposed in the early 2000s to ensure stability and transparency in a teleoperation system under specific control gains values. This control strategy has been implemented for a linear system with or without time delay. This paper represents the first attempt at demonstrating, theoretically and experi...

This article presents the skeletal-mathematical model and a measurement system for providing real-time information related to position, angular velocity, and orientation of different movements related to the upper limb of human shoulder using Inertial Measurement Units (IMU). The main goal of this system is to improve the rehabilitation tasks of un...

This paper presents the development of the robotic multi-agent system SMART. In this system, the agent concept is applied to both hardware and software entities. Hardware agents are robots, with three and four legs, and an IP-camera that takes images of the scene where the cooperative task is carried out. Hardware agents strongly cooperate with sof...

We propose a novel control scheme for bilateral teleoperation of n degree-of-freedom (DOF) nonlinear robotic systems with time-varying communication delay. A major contribution from this work lies in the demonstration that the structure of a state convergence algorithm can be also applied to nth-order nonlinear teleoperation systems. By choosing a...

This paper presents the development of a robot based on tensegrity structure with to perform inspection and maintenance in petroleum pipelines. Due to the nature of application, the robot must be able to move vertically on the outside of the pipe. This type of mechanical structure is characterized by low weight and high capacity to adapt to differe...

In this work, the dimensional synthesis of a spherical Parallel Manipulator (PM) with a 3P¯SU-1S kinematic chain is presented. The goal of the synthesis is to find a set of parameters that defines the PM with the best performance in terms of workspace capabilities, dexterity and isotropy. The PM is parametrized in terms of a reference element, and...

In this paper, we propose a novel control scheme for bilateral teleoperation of n degree-of-freedom (DOF) nonlinear robotic systems with time-varying communication delay. We consider that the human operator contains a constant force on the local manipulator. The local and remote manipulators are coupled using state convergence control scheme. By ch...

This paper proposes a novel robotic system that is able to move along the outside of the oil pipelines used in Electric Submersible Pumps (ESP) and Progressive Cavity Pumps (PCP) applications. This novel design, called RETOV, proposes a light weight structure robot that can be equipped with sensors to measure environmental variables avoiding damage...

This paper proposes the application of the methodology for deployment of the quality function to define the design criteria of a sliding robot to work in inspection and maintenance in oil wells. This study analyzes the system initially and the options for placement of a robotic structure evaluating alternatives and considering a robotic structure f...

This paper presents the improvements we plan to be introduce into the lab teaching of the subject “Programmable Logic Systems” in the Degree in Electronics and Automatics Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. The work includes the replacement of existing training systems by trainers specifically designed for scheduled practices, the...

This article presents a set of resources for helping to learn and teach the C programming language. This language is used on the subject “Informatica” (computing), in the Degree in Electronics and Automatics Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. The resources presented are interactive animations, that students can use to analyze, on...

This paper presents the development of a robot based on the prestressed structure to carry out maintenance inspection on oil pipelines. This type of mechanical structure is characterized by low weight and high capacity of adaptation to different diameters. The application requires the device to move vertically and developed high-speed. Note that in...

This article presents the design, kinematic model and communication architecture for the multi-agent robotic system called SMART. The philosophy behind this kind of system requires the communication architecture to contemplate the concurrence of the whole system. The proposed architecture combines different communication technologies (TCP/IP and Bl...

In this work it is presented a complete kinematic analysis of the 3PSS-1S parallel mechanism for its implementation as a spherical wrist for a needle insertion guidance robot. The spherical 3PSS-1S mechanism is a low weight and reduced dimension parallel mechanism that allows spherical movements providing the requirements needed for the serial–para...

This article describes the methodology followed in Computer Sciences and Microprocessor courses during the last academic year. All the performed activities was based on cooperative task that students developed in groups. That groups were made up by the professor after a diagnostic test. Through implementation of this methodology, the students showe...

This paper presents the improvements we plan to be introduce into the lab teaching of the subject “Programmable Logic Systems” in the Degree in Electronics and Automatics Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. The work includes the replacement of existing training systems by trainers specifically designed for scheduled practices, the...

In this work, we propose a control strategy by state convergence applied to bilateral control of a nonlinear teleoperator system with constant delay. The bilateral control of the teleoperator system considers the case when the human operator applies a constant force on the local manipulator and when the interaction of the remote manipulator with th...

In this work, we proposes a control strategy that allows the remote manipulator follow the local manipulator through the state convergence even if it has a delay in the communication channel The bilateral control of the teleoperator system considers the case were the human operator applies a constant force on the local manipulator and when the inte...

This paper presents the teleoperation of a parallel robot based on the Stewart–Gough platform. The robot is an experimental prototype capable of sliding along electrical lines in order to carry out different inspection and maintenance tasks. The paper also describes the kinematic equations of the parallel robot and their solution. The teleoperation...

This study introduces the concept design and analysis of a robotic system for the assistance and rehabilitation of disabled people. Based on the statistical data of the most common types of disabilities in Spain and other industrialized countries, the different tasks that the device must be able to perform have been determined. In this study, diffe...

REMO I Robot is a novel application of a parallel structure as an underwater robot of 6 DoF. Compared to other underwater robots, navigation of REMO I Robot is performed by the capability of its parallel structure to modify its geometric structure (thruster and front ring) and to displace by itself. This kinematic property of the parallel platform...

This paper presents the design and application of an adaptative control method for a bilateral system of teleoperation without time delay. It also studies the optimal analysis about adaptation laws that have been developed. It is modelled like a linear system. The scheme and control of algorithm have been formulated in the space state following a c...

El desarrollo de este trabajo presenta la realización de una plataforma experimental, la cual permitirá investigar sobre una metodología para el diseño y análisis de un sistema teleoperado, considerando la dinámica no lineal del manipulador esclavo, así como el retardo en el canal de comunicación. El trabajado ha sido desarrollado entre el laborato...