  Injury to the cervical spinal cord can cause quadriplegia, impairing muscle
function in all four limbs. People with impaired hand function and mobility
encounter significant difficulties in carrying out essential self-care and
household tasks. Despite the impairment of their neural drive, their volitional
myoelectric activity is often partially preserved. High-density
electromyography (HDEMG) can detect this myoelectric activity, which can serve
as control inputs to assistive devices. Previous HDEMG-controlled robotic
interfaces have primarily been limited to controlling table-mounted robot arms.
These have constrained reach capabilities. Instead, the ability to control
mobile manipulators, which have no such workspace constraints, could allow
individuals with quadriplegia to perform a greater variety of assistive tasks,
thus restoring independence and reducing caregiver workload. In this study, we
introduce a non-invasive wearable HDEMG interface with real-time myoelectric
hand gesture recognition, enabling both coarse and fine control over the
intricate mobility and manipulation functionalities of an 8 degree-of-freedom
mobile manipulator. Our evaluation, involving 13 participants engaging in
challenging self-care and household activities, demonstrates the potential of
our wearable HDEMG system to profoundly enhance user independence by enabling
non-invasive control of a mobile manipulator.
