The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) is developing digital twin-based evaluation software (SW) that can verify the performance and usability of wearable robots in advance without actual users wearing them, and this is expected to shorten the development period of wearable robots and drastically reduce costs.

The AI Robot UX Lab of the AI Robot Research Center of the ETRI Artificial Intelligence and Creative Research Institute announced on the 23rd that it recently developed a 'wearable robot integrated evaluation technology based on digital human-device twins.'

The technology unveiled by ETRI verifies the performance of robots by linking a digital human that reflects neuromusculoskeletal characteristics and a device twin that precisely replicates an actual device in a virtual environment.

In the past, after producing a prototype, it was necessary to have actual users wear it repeatedly and conduct experiments, which was a huge burden in terms of time and cost.

Another limitation pointed out was that the development period is prolonged because redesign and additional experiments are inevitable when problems occur.

The research team verified the effectiveness of the technology in collaboration with the Pusan National University Hospital Global Clinical Trial Center.

The results of comparing clinical results of actual patients wearing wearable robots, performing muscle strengthening, rehabilitation treatment, and basic function tests with the results of digital twin-based simulations showed thatA high degree of agreement of 0.6 or higher was achieved.

This means that digital twin-based evaluations have a level of reliability similar to that of actual clinical trials.

The core of this technology can be summarized in four points.

First, there's the technology to create a neuro-musculoskeletal digital human twin. This allows for quantitative modeling of a user's physical and cognitive characteristics, enabling the creation of customized virtual users that reflect diverse clinical target populations.

Secondly, we have developed an all-in-one framework for creating a digital twin that reflects the dynamic and static structure, control algorithms, and sensor characteristics of a wearable device, using a physics-based device twin creation technology.

Third, digital human-device linkage simulation technology. This technology allows for quantitative evaluation of wearability, usability, and interactivity in a virtual environment, significantly reducing the number and cost of clinical trials.

Lastly, there is an integrated performance and usability evaluation system. Simulation results can be quantified and immediately reflected in the design phase, and user experience (UX), which was previously evaluated qualitatively, can be verified with objective indicators.

“Previously, actual user wearing tests were essential to verify the performance of wearable robots,” said Woojin Kim, Chief Technology Officer at ETRI’s AI Robot UX Lab. “By utilizing digital twin-based technology, we can virtually combine various user characteristics to derive optimal designs and control algorithms with minimal clinical trials.”

Yoon Dae-seop, head of the AI Robot UX Research Lab, said, “We plan to expand the application of this original technology to robot UX fields where user experience is important, such as rehabilitation robots, walking assistance devices, and industrial wearable robots.”

Professor Jong-Hwan Park of Pusan National University Hospital also expressed his hope for research activation, saying, “This technology will become essential software for the development of various robots in the future.”

ETRI plans to transfer this technology to wearable robot manufacturers and specialized robot manufacturing companies and pursue commercialization through follow-up research. This research was supported by the "Information and Communications and Broadcasting Technology Development Project" of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute for Information and Communications Technology Planning and Evaluation (IITP).