Download the full version of the textbook now at textbookfull.

com

Soft Robots for Healthcare Applications

Design Modeling and Control 1st Edition Shane
Xie

https://textbookfull.com/product/soft-robots-for-
healthcare-applications-design-modeling-and-
control-1st-edition-shane-xie/

Explore and download more textbook at https://textbookfull.com

 Recommended digital products (PDF, EPUB, MOBI) that
you can download immediately if you are interested.

Advanced Robotics for Medical Rehabilitation: Current

State of the Art and Recent Advances 1st Edition Shane Xie
(Auth.)
https://textbookfull.com/product/advanced-robotics-for-medical-
rehabilitation-current-state-of-the-art-and-recent-advances-1st-
edition-shane-xie-auth/
textbookfull.com

Photovoltaic Power System Modeling Design and Control 1st

Edition Weidong Xiao

https://textbookfull.com/product/photovoltaic-power-system-modeling-
design-and-control-1st-edition-weidong-xiao/

textbookfull.com

New Trends in Medical and Service Robots Human Centered

Analysis Control and Design 1st Edition Philippe Wenger

https://textbookfull.com/product/new-trends-in-medical-and-service-
robots-human-centered-analysis-control-and-design-1st-edition-
philippe-wenger/
textbookfull.com

Cultures of Social Justice Leadership: An Intercultural

Context of Schools Pamela S. Angelle

https://textbookfull.com/product/cultures-of-social-justice-
leadership-an-intercultural-context-of-schools-pamela-s-angelle/

textbookfull.com
Governing Global City Singapore Legacies and Futures After
Lee Kuan Yew 1st Edition Kenneth Paul Tan

https://textbookfull.com/product/governing-global-city-singapore-
legacies-and-futures-after-lee-kuan-yew-1st-edition-kenneth-paul-tan/

textbookfull.com

Wolf Daddy 1st Edition Morganna Williams

https://textbookfull.com/product/wolf-daddy-1st-edition-morganna-
williams/

textbookfull.com

Deep Sky Observing An Astronomical Tour 2nd Edition Steven

R. Coe (Auth.)

https://textbookfull.com/product/deep-sky-observing-an-astronomical-
tour-2nd-edition-steven-r-coe-auth/

textbookfull.com

The Dynamics of Persuasion Communication and Attitudes in

the 21st Century Richard M. Perloff

https://textbookfull.com/product/the-dynamics-of-persuasion-
communication-and-attitudes-in-the-21st-century-richard-m-perloff/

textbookfull.com

Mathematical Analysis and the Mathematics of Computation

1st Edition Werner Römisch

https://textbookfull.com/product/mathematical-analysis-and-the-
mathematics-of-computation-1st-edition-werner-romisch/

textbookfull.com
Academic Vocation in the Church and Academy Today And With
All Of Your Mind 1st Edition James A. Tyner

https://textbookfull.com/product/academic-vocation-in-the-church-and-
academy-today-and-with-all-of-your-mind-1st-edition-james-a-tyner/

textbookfull.com
HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGIES SERIES 14

Soft Robots for

Healthcare Applications
Other volumes in this series:

Volume 1 Nanobiosensors for Personalized and Onsite Biomedical Diagnosis

P. Chandra (Editor)
Volume 2 Machine Learning for Healthcare Technologies Prof. David A. Clifton (Editor)
Volume 3 Portable Biosensors and Point-of-Care Systems Prof. Spyridon E. Kintzios
(Editor)
Volume 4 Biomedical Nanomaterials: From Design to Implementation Dr. Thomas
J. Webster and Dr. Hilal Yazici (Editors)
Volume 6 Active and Assisted Living: Technologies and Applications Florez-Revuelta
and Chaaraoui (Editors)
Volume 9 Human Monitoring, Smart Health and Assisted Living: Techniques and
Technologies S. Longhi, A. Monteriú and A. Freddi (Editors)
Soft Robots for
Healthcare Applications
Design, modelling, and control

S. Xie, M. Zhang and W. Meng

The Institution of Engineering and Technology

Published by The Institution of Engineering and Technology, London, United Kingdom
The Institution of Engineering and Technology is registered as a Charity in England &
Wales (no. 211014) and Scotland (no. SC038698).
† The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
First published 2017

This publication is copyright under the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright
Convention. All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research
or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in
the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued
by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those
terms should be sent to the publisher at the undermentioned address:

The Institution of Engineering and Technology

Michael Faraday House
Six Hills Way, Stevenage
Herts SG1 2AY, United Kingdom
www.theiet.org

While the authors and publisher believe that the information and guidance given in this
work are correct, all parties must rely upon their own skill and judgement when making
use of them. Neither the authors nor publisher assumes any liability to anyone for any
loss or damage caused by any error or omission in the work, whether such an error or
omission is the result of negligence or any other cause. Any and all such liability is
disclaimed.
The moral rights of the authors to be identified as authors of this work have been
asserted by him them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this product is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-78561-311-1 (hardback)

ISBN 978-1-78561-312-8 (PDF)

Typeset in India by MPS Limited

Printed in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon
 Contents

Preface ix
Acknowledgements xv
Author Biographies xvii

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Healthcare requirements 1
1.2 Soft robots for healthcare applications 5
1.2.1 Definition of soft robots 6
1.2.2 Examples of soft robots for healthcare 8
1.2.3 Motivation of soft robots for healthcare 11
1.3 Critical issues in developing soft robots for healthcare 12
1.3.1 Acceptance of healthcare robots 12
1.3.2 Soft actuators 13
1.3.3 Modelling and control of soft actuators 17
1.4 Book outline 17
1.5 Summary 18
References 18

2 State of the art 23

2.1 Rehabilitation robots for healthcare 23
2.1.1 Upper-limb rehabilitation exoskeletons 23
2.1.2 Gait rehabilitation exoskeletons 25
2.1.3 Ankle rehabilitation robots 27
2.2 Soft robots for healthcare 32
2.2.1 Soft robots for various applications 33
2.2.2 Soft robots for healthcare 36
2.3 Summary 43
References 43

3 Concept and modelling of a soft rehabilitation

actuator: the Peano muscle 49
3.1 Towards soft and wearable actuation for rehabilitation systems 49
3.2 Fluid powered muscles for rehabilitation 51
3.3 Static modelling of the Peano muscle 53
3.4 The MECHALP static model 55
3.4.1 Model validation method 59
3.4.2 Model validation results and discussion 61
vi Soft robots for healthcare applications

3.5 Summary 63
References 63

4 Design of the reactive Peano muscle 67

4.1 Actuators that sense 67
4.1.1 Prior art in embedded sensors for linear fluid
powered muscles 68
4.2 The reactive Peano muscle 71
4.2.1 DE sensors 71
4.3 Fabrication of the reactive Peano muscle 73
4.4 Characterising the reactive Peano muscle 78
4.4.1 Methods 78
4.4.2 Muscle performance results and discussion 78
4.4.3 Sensor performance results and discussion 79
4.5 Summary 83
References 83

5 Soft wrist rehabilitation robot 87

5.1 Introduction 87
5.2 Device design 88
5.3 Force and torque distribution 91
5.4 Control strategies 92
5.4.1 Pneumatic setup 92
5.4.2 Model-based control 93
5.4.3 Feedback-based control 95
5.4.4 Design comparison 98
5.5 System integration and experiments 100
5.5.1 Software architecture 100
5.5.2 Experiments 101
5.6 Summary 105
References 105

6 Development of a soft ankle rehabilitation robot 107

6.1 Ankle complex 108
6.2 Existing ankle rehabilitation robots 109
6.3 Design requirements of ankle rehabilitation robots 111
6.3.1 Ankle range of motion and torque 111
6.3.2 Robot flexibility 111
6.4 Conceptual design of the soft ankle rehabilitation robot 112
6.5 Kinematics of the soft ankle rehabilitation robot 114
6.6 Dynamics of the soft ankle rehabilitation robot 117
6.6.1 Ankle force and torque 117
6.6.2 Inertial property of the moving unit 119
6.6.3 Force distribution 120
6.6.4 Festo fluidic muscle modelling 123
 Contents vii

6.7 Construction of the soft ankle rehabilitation robot 127

6.8 Summary 129
Appendix A Bill of materials 129
References 129

7 Control of a soft ankle rehabilitation robot 133

7.1 Introduction 133
7.2 Passive training control 134
7.2.1 Force distribution based cascade control 134
7.2.2 IFT control for repetitive training 136
7.3 Active training control 143
7.3.1 Trajectory adaptation-based intelligent control 143
7.3.2 Game guided training control 144
7.4 Summary 150
References 150

8 Design of a GAit Rehabilitation EXoskeleton 153

8.1 Introduction 153
8.2 Support structure and trunk mechanism 154
8.3 Lower limb exoskeleton 155
8.3.1 Actuation of the lower limb exoskeleton 155
8.3.2 Mechanical and pneumatic system design of
the lower limb mechanism 160
8.4 Instrumentation 161
8.5 Safety of GAREX 163
8.6 Summary 164
References 164

9 Modelling and control strategies development of GAREX 167

9.1 Introduction 167
9.2 System modelling 169
9.2.1 Valve flow dynamics 170
9.2.2 Pneumatic muscle pressure dynamics 171
9.2.3 Pneumatic muscle force dynamics model 172
9.2.4 Load dynamics of the mechanism 177
9.3 Multi-input-multi-output sliding mode control for GAREX 179
9.4 Experimental validation 184
9.4.1 Experiments with the knee joint mechanism 185
9.5 Pilot study of gait training with GAREX 189
9.5.1 Generating reference gait trajectory 189
9.5.2 Treadmill-based gait experiment with
healthy subject 197
9.6 Summary 199
Appendix A The mechanism dynamics calculation 202
References 204
viii Soft robots for healthcare applications

10 Conclusion and future work 207

10.1 Book contributions 207
10.1.1 Physical modelling and embedded sensing for the
Peano muscle 207
10.1.2 Design and control of a soft wrist rehabilitation robot 208
10.1.3 Design and control of a soft ankle rehabilitation robot 208
10.1.4 Design and control of a soft robotic GAit
Rehabilitation EXoskeleton 210
10.2 Future work 211
10.2.1 Modelling and fabrication process of the Peano muscle 211
10.2.2 Two-degrees of freedom for the wrist rehabilitation robot 211
10.2.3 Optimisation and improvement of the soft ankle
rehabilitation robot 212
10.2.4 Control and validation of the GAREX 212
10.3 Summary 213
References 214

Index 215
 Preface

Robots are not new to healthcare applications. The most typical example is the
Da Vinci Surgical System. This system has conducted more than 20,000 surgeries
since the year of 2000 and has paved the way for robotic advancements in health-
care. Other robotic systems have also been developed to provide care to patients
and help perform various surgeries and physical therapies. For instance, Magnetic
Microbots are a group of tiny robots used in a variety of operations, such as
removing plaque from a patient’s arteries or helping with ocular conditions and
disease screenings. Robots have also been used to improve the day-to-day lives of
patients, such as the Bestic device to assist eating and the ReWalk Personal System
6.0 to help patients regain his/her walking ability.
Most conventional robots are constructed from stiff materials such as steel,
aluminium and ABS plastics. They are usually powered directly by electric motors
or by pumps forcing hydraulic fluids through rigid tubes. Such devices are capable
of large forces and high speeds with great precision, which makes them very pro-
ductive in factory assembly lines. However, very few of them can operate in natural
environment or in close proximity to humans with interaction. In addition to safety
concerns, these robots are simply not very good at adapting their behaviour when
interacting with different environments. They are not well matched to the require-
ments due to the stiff materials used. To overcome some of these obstacles, there is an
increasing interest in developing robots from soft materials.
Soft robotics is an emerging discipline that employs soft flexible materials,
such as fluids, gels and elastomers, in order to enhance the use of robotics in
healthcare applications. Compared to their rigid counterparts, soft robotic systems
have flexible and rheological properties that are closely related to biological sys-
tems, thus allowing the development of adaptive and flexible interactions with
complex dynamic environments. With new technologies arising in bio-engineering,
the integration of living cells into soft robotic systems offers the possibility of
accomplishing multiple complex functions such as sensing and actuating upon
external stimuli. These emerging bio-hybrid systems are showing promising out-
comes and opening up new avenues in the field of soft robotics for applications in
healthcare and other fields.
One goal of soft robotics is to make machines that are adaptable and safe in their
capabilities when interacting with human users. We take it for granted that humans
can walk up and down stairs, navigate through a cluttered room or move delicate
objects, but these tasks are extraordinarily difficult even for the most advanced
robotic systems. The potential reason can be that stiff robots are controlled with great
Visit https://textbookfull.com
now to explore a rich
collection of eBooks, textbook
and enjoy exciting offers!
x Soft robots for healthcare applications

precision, they continuously monitor their body posture or output torque and plan out
their movements with very stringent constraints. This is necessary because stiff robots
can damage themselves or the world around them if in an unstable state. This issue is
compounded when the robot moves into more natural or human-based environments
that are filled with variety and continuously changing conditions. The robot cannot
accurately predict or measure parameters that affect its performance such as surface
friction, uneven floors, hard and soft obstacles, real-time interaction with environ-
ments, or moving objects, which make it simply cannot work out all required
kinematic and dynamic issues to maintain precision. However, the major challenge in
producing useful soft robots is to develop control systems that are suitable for highly
deformable structures. Most of our existing methods cannot control high degree of
freedom movements, particularly in unpredictable environments.
Complete soft robots typically resemble the animals that inspired their creation
and they are constrained by the same structural considerations; soft materials do not
lend themselves to building giraffe-like robots. Most soft robots are therefore ter-
restrial worm-like devices, although some have been built to operate underwater or
to act as manipulator arms similar to those of the octopus. There are two major
groups of soft devices distinguished by their mode of actuation.
The first group employed traditional motors and pumps to transfer power to the
soft bodied robot using cables or pressurised air and fluid. There are designs used air-
powered bladders wrapped in a braid to force the expanding bladder to shorten
longitudinally. These McKibben actuators are often called pneumatic artificial
muscles (PAMs). They are commercially available and have also been used to power
robots with stiff skeletons. One of typical applications is to use inflatable rubber
compartments carefully designed to expand in pre-arranged directions. By linking
these compartments together and controlling the inflation timing these devices can
be made to crawl with a variety of gaits or to generate complex movements for
grasping and manipulating objects. The other group uses active materials such as
electroactive polymers and shape memory alloys. These machines do not need
separate motors and are potentially capable of completely soft autonomous loco-
motion. However, they are currently limited by poor actuator efficiency or force
production and by the need to carry relatively stiff power supplies such as batteries.
Designs vary from very small structures composed entirely of active gels, to aquatic
jellyfish designs with embedded shape memory alloy ribs, and terrestrial caterpillar
and worm-like crawling machines. Clearly these soft robots are still at an early stage
of development but new devices are being designed and built remarkably quickly.
A new generation of caterpillar like robots is currently being fabricated using a
multimaterial three-dimensional printer that is capable of assembling completely
new designs on a daily basis. Future robots are expected to combine many of these
technologies, for example, the octopus arm manipulator uses both cables and shape
memory alloy actuators to increase their versatility and usefulness.
This book focuses on the development of soft robotics for rehabilitation
purposes. For better actuation precision and clinical outcomes, the prototypes to be
reported in this book adopted soft and compliant actuators with stiff skeletons.
Over the last two decades, there has been an increasing amount of research into the
 Preface xi

use of robots in physical therapy. The goal of rehabilitation is to recuperate a

patient from impairment or disability and improve mobility, functional ability and
quality of life. The use of soft and compliant actuators can ensure the safety of
training when interacting with human users, and can also enable the implementa-
tion of wearable robotic exoskeleton.
This book systematically reviews the recent research and development of the
innovative technologies for advanced robotics in healthcare applications. Through
a systematic overview of the existing robotic systems and recent approaches of
rehabilitation robots, interaction control, and soft and compliant healthcare robots,
the problems that emerged from recent approaches have been identified. To over-
come these problems and to develop a series of advanced healthcare robotics,
research and development of soft robotics for human impaired limbs have been
carried out. These include the review on current rehabilitation robotic systems and
soft healthcare robots, the design and modelling of a novel soft actuator, the
development of a soft and compliant wrist rehabilitation robot, the development of
a soft and compliant ankle rehabilitation robot, and the development of a soft gait
rehabilitation exoskeleton. These research topics and findings constitute the main
contents of this book.
The aim of this book is to present our recent research outcomes and imple-
mentation studies in the field of advanced rehabilitation robotics by the use of soft
and compliant actuators. The first chapter gives an overview of healthcare
requirements, soft robots for healthcare applications, critical issues in developing
soft healthcare robots, and the book outline.
The second chapter firstly presents the historical background of advanced
robotics for rehabilitation purposes, including upper-limb rehabilitation exoskele-
tons, gait rehabilitation exoskeletons and robot-assisted ankle rehabilitation tech-
niques. Followed is the overview of soft robotics for a variety of applications,
including its definition and typical examples for healthcare applications.
Before introducing specific soft robotics for healthcare applications, Chapter 3
proposes the use of the Peano muscle, a fluid powered actuator invented by Mettam,
specifically for rehabilitation devices such as robotic exoskeletons. The slim form and
soft materials of this unique actuator are similar to the textiles used in clothing, lending
it to use in unobtrusive and comfortable rehabilitation robots. The novel properties of
the Peano muscle require new models to predict and control its behaviour. The
MECHanical Approximation Lumped Parameter (MECHALP) model of the Peano
muscle’s static force generation was presented and validated. It models four physical
effects not found in previous physics-based Peano muscle models, increasing its
accuracy for control and design over these existing modelling approaches.
Following Chapter 3, Chapter 4 presents the design of the reactive Peano
muscle. Inspired by biological muscles’ embedded sensors, the reactive Peano
muscle measures its strain, pressure and force with novel dielectric elastomer (DE)
sensors. We describe how to fabricate these sensors and embed them into a Peano
muscle. We then characterise the resulting Peano muscle’s actuation and sensing
performance and demonstrate that embedded DE sensors do not compromise its
form or function. Thus, the reactive Peano muscle concept has the potential to
xii Soft robots for healthcare applications

replace passive clothing with clothing that not only actuates, but also provides
feedback on the physical ability and state of its wearer.
Chapter 5 introduces the development of a soft robotic orthosis for the
assessment and rehabilitation of the wrist joint. A mechanical prototype, incor-
porating an antagonistic setup of PAMs, will be presented. One of the main tasks of
this research is the investigation of a suitable control system for the proposed
prototype. Two different strategies have been implemented and compared. A
feedback-based closed-loop angle and force controller was finally chosen to suit the
desired system best. Experiments have been conducted on the presented system,
showing that the desired measurement functionalities have been achieved.
Chapter 6 presents a soft ankle assessment and rehabilitation robot. This new
design has the features of multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs), compliant actuation,
appropriate workspace and actuation torque, aligned rotation centre between the robot
and the ankle joint and the integration of real-time ankle assessment. This chapter
mainly introduces the robot kinematics and dynamics, as well as its construction.
Chapter 7 develops control strategies on the soft-ankle rehabilitation robot
(SARR). The first half of this chapter is dedicated to the development of a cascade
position controller with a position loop and a force loop, which aims to implement
smooth and safe robotic passive training on the SARR. The second half of this chapter
proposes the active training strategies of generating an adaptive pre-defined trajectory
according to the movement intention of a patient. The proposed adaptive interaction
training can be then implemented by integrating it into a virtual reality-based video
game to make the robotic training process more attractive to the patients.
In Chapter 8, a new robotic GAit Rehabilitation EXoskeketon (GAREX) will
be presented to facilitate task-specific gait rehabilitation with controlled intrinsic
compliance. The GAREX was designed for the experiments with human subjects.
Several implementations ensure the safety of the subject, which is of paramount
importance. The GAREX has modular design to accommodate anthropometrics of
most of the population.
Chapter 9 proposes a multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) sliding mode (SM)
controller which is aimed to simultaneously control the angular trajectory and
compliance of the knee joint mechanism of a GAREX. The MIMO controller is
developed based on the model of the GAREX system which consists of four sub-
system models. Experiments with and without healthy subjects are conducted with
the GAREX to validate the developed SM controller. The experimental results
indicate good multivariable tracking performance of this controller.
Chapter 10 summarises the main outcomes of this book, and highlights the
contributions. This chapter also provides a discussion of future directions that can
be explored to extend or advance the work presented in this book. This will be used
to guide coming research, or act as a reference for institutions to design and
develop new medical robotic systems.
This book also contains appendices (in Chapters 6 and 9) about the materials
used for the construction of the SARR, and the mechanism dynamics calculation of
the GAREX system.
 Preface xiii

We would like to take this opportunity to express our deep appreciation to

those who have contributed to this book. Mingming Zhang contributed to Chapters
1, 2, 6 and 10. Allan Veale contributed to Chapters 3 and 4. Jinghui Cao contributed
to Chapters 8 and 9. Wei Meng contributed to Chapter 5. Mingming Zhang and Wei
Meng jointly contributed to Chapter 7. Bo Sheng helped in the preparation of
Chapters 2 and 6. The authors are also grateful to Jinghui Cao, Allan Veale and Bo
Sheng for their assistance in compiling the book, and Ziying Lin and Shichao Peng
for their help in the editing of the figures for her help in the editing of the figures.
It is our sincere hope that readers will find this book useful to their study and
research.

Shane (S.Q.) Xie, Mingming Zhang, and Wei Meng

Auckland, New Zealand, March 2017
 Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge funding support from the Foundation for
Research, Science and Technology of New Zealand, the Auckland Medical
Research Foundation, the Lottery Healthcare Research Foundation and the
University of Auckland.
 Author Biographies

Shane (Sheng Q.) Xie has been Director of the Mechatronics and Robotics
programme and Director of the Rehabilitation Robotics Lab at the University of
Leeds, UK, since December 2016. He was previously Director of the Rehabilita-
tion and Medical Robotics Centre at the University of Auckland, New Zealand
(2002–2016). He received his PhD in Mechatronics Engineering from Huazhong
University of Science and Technology (HUST), China, in 1998. He has published
over 400 refereed papers and 7 books in the areas of advanced robotics for reha-
bilitation applications, and was awarded the prestigious David Bensted Fellowship
for his contributions in rehabilitation robotics. He has been the Technical Editor
for IEEE/ASME Transaction on Mechatronics and the Editor-in-Chief for the
International Journal of Biomechatronics and Biomedical Devices.
Chair in Robotics and Autonomous Systems
School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering
University of Leeds

Dr Mingming Zhang is Executive Deputy Director of Auckland Tongji Medical &

Rehabilitation Equipment Research Centre at Tongji Zhejiang College, China. He
finished his PhD study at the University of Auckland in 2015, and continued to
work as a research fellow until the end of 2016. He has multiple years of experience
in developing novel robot-assisted rehabilitation techniques. His research interest
also includes brain data mining and signal processing with different algorithms to
extract meaningful neural features from large-scale brain data sets. His scientific
results have been published in peer-reviewed papers in the field of mechatronics
and neural engineering, and he has seven Chinese patents.
Executive Deputy Director of Auckland Tongji Medical &
Rehabilitation Research Centre, Tongji Zhejiang College Visiting Scholar,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Auckland

Dr Wei Meng is Lecturer with the School of Information Engineering, Wuhan

University of Technology, Wuhan, China. From 2014 to 2016, he was a Doctoral
Scholar in Mechatronics Engineering at The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
His research interests include robot-assisted rehabilitation, human–robot interac-
tion and adaptive impedance control. He is the author of two books, over twenty
academic journal and conference papers, as well as three Chinese patents.
Lecturer, School of Information Engineering
Wuhan University of Technology
 Chapter 1
Introduction

Much research has been conducted in the past few decades on robotics for various
applications, such as industrial automation, manufacturing and healthcare. Tradi-
tional robots are mostly made of rigid materials that limit their ability to elastically
deform and adapt their shape to external environments. Although they have the
potential to be powerful and multifunctional with high precision of motion control,
these rigid robots are more suitable for industrial applications.
In contrast to conventional machines, soft robots are primarily composed of
fluids, gels, soft polymers and other easily deformable materials. These materials
have the elastic property as the soft biological matter has, which makes soft robots
commonly used for healthcare applications due to enhanced safety when interacting
with human users. However, soft robots for healthcare applications represent an
exciting new paradigm in engineering that challenges us to re-examine the mate-
rials and mechanisms to make healthcare tools more comfortable, lifelike and
compatible for human interaction. This chapter introduces background information
on healthcare requirements and existing soft healthcare robots, and also identifies
the critical issues in developing such robots. The outline of this book is presented in
this chapter.

1.1 Healthcare requirements

Healthcare is the maintenance and improvement of health via the diagnosis, treat-
ment and prevention of disease, illness, injury and other physical and mental
impairments in human beings. The ageing and disabled population is placing
increasing strain on healthcare services. Physical therapy, also known as
physiotherapy, is a physical rehabilitation programme that requires the use of
mechanical force and movements to re-mediate impairments and promotes mobi-
lity, function and thus the quality of life. The impairments can be the results of
a variety of health issues, including musculoskeletal injuries and neurological
diseases. Stroke is a common cause of death and major cause of disability
worldwide [1], and it can be caused by an interruption of blood flow to the brain
resulting in damage to brain cells. In New Zealand, there is an estimated 8,800
people suffering from a stroke each year [2]. This figure in the United States is
about 610,000 [3]. With a survival rate at 80%, it is estimated that there are 60,000
stroke survivors in New Zealand and about 7,000,000 in the United States. Many of
Visit https://textbookfull.com
now to explore a rich
collection of eBooks, textbook
and enjoy exciting offers!
2 Soft robots for healthcare applications

stroke survivors are disabled and need significant daily support. According
to World Health Organisation, 15 million people suffer from stroke every year
globally, among whom around one-third are left permanently disabled [4].
Stroke survivors commonly experience hemiplegia, paralysis or loss of physical
strength on one side of the body [1]. The impairment of the upper limb can cause
difficulties in patients’ daily lives such as eating, dressing and personal hygiene.
The majority of stroke survivors suffer from gait disorder and around a half of these
people cannot walk independently without assistance. Duncan [5] reported that the
inability to walk is one of the most common problems in the population who suffered
from acute stroke. Kelly-Hayes et al. also stated that 30% of stroke survivors are
unable to walk without assistance [6]. This urges researchers to investigate enabling
technologies to promote physical gait rehabilitation.
Physical therapy is the main treatment to help patients with disabilities to regain
independence. Current rehabilitation services utilise manual hands-on treatment
provided by physiotherapists. However, taking the treatment of ankle injuries as an
example, evidence suggested that manual physiotherapy cannot provide sufficient
rehabilitations [7,8], and approximately 38% of people will have recurrent activity
limitations affecting their functions [9]. Furthermore, in a manual physiotherapy
programme, cooperative and intensive efforts are usually required from both therapists
and patients, especially over prolonged sessions [10]. Robotics technology provides a
transformation for these rehabilitation clinics from labour-intensive operations to
technology-assisted operations, as well as offers a rich stream of data [11]. Moreover,
this kind of robot has the potential for a greater impact on rehabilitation field due to its
easy deployment, high measurement reliability, applicability across a wide range of
motor impairments, and capacity to deliver high dosage and high intensity training
protocols [12,13]. Robot-assisted rehabilitation programmes can also be conducted
without the presence of the therapists, which enables more frequent treatments and
potentially reduces costs in a long term of training. The integration of virtual-reality-
based games within the robot can provide a more entertaining therapy experience,
thereby encouraging active engagement from patients to enhance rehabilitation
efficacy [14]. The comparison of manual physiotherapy and robot-assisted rehabili-
tation techniques is summarised in Table 1.1.
While robot-assisted rehabilitation techniques can provide many benefits
compared with manual physiotherapy, as shown in Table 1.1, a major concern is
the issue of the robotic training safety when interacting with human users.
In addition, the development of rehabilitation robots requires the usage of a variety
of actuators and sensors, and this can be very challenging and costly with current
technologies. The goal of developing assistive and rehabilitation robots is to
address these key issues that are limiting manual physiotherapy.
A variety of assistive and rehabilitation robots have been developed for health-
care applications since the 1960s [15]. Robot-assisted rehabilitation techniques
usually involve the development of powered feeders, wheelchair robots, mobile
robots, robotic workstations, robotic orthoses and robotic rooms [16]. Typical reha-
bilitation robots include upper-limb exoskeletons, gait exoskeletons, and ankle
rehabilitation robots. Specifically, Lo and Xie [17] presented the recent progress of
 Introduction 3

Table 1.1 Comparison of manual physiotherapy and robot-assisted physiotherapy

Evaluation Manual physiotherapy Robot-assisted physiotherapy

index
Travelling Travelling to rehabilitation clinics is Rehabilitation robots allow
difficulty inconvenient and time consuming, patients to receive treatments
especially for patients with physical at home or in office.
disabilities.
Physiotherapist Manual physiotherapy is boring for Rehabilitation robots are not
availability patients and physiotherapists. affected by fatigue or duration
Frequent treatment with a long-time of physical exercises.
training session is difficult due to
limited availability of therapists.
Assessment Qualitative assessment results Robot-assisted rehabilitation
subjectivity from physiotherapists can be techniques can provide
inaccurate and thus affect the accurate quantitative
treatment efficacy. Inconsistent assessment results based on
evaluation results among built-in sensors.
different physiotherapists are also
a concern.
Engagement The manual physiotherapy usually Rehabilitation robots can be used
motivation involves tedious and repetitive in conjunction with virtual
movements. This can lead to a games to encourage patients’
reduction in the amount of voluntary active engagement for
effort by the patient, and thus can enhanced rehabilitation
affect rehabilitation efficacy. efficacy.
Treatment Physiotherapists provide basic Rehabilitation robots can pro-
complexity treatments with currently available vide assistance only as needed
tools. It is difficult to provide through advanced control
a suitable amount of assistance strategies. They can also
only when required and accurately be designed with multiple
manipulate multiple joints degrees of freedom (DOFs).
simultaneously.

upper-limb exoskeleton robots for rehabilitation treatment of patients with neuro-

muscular disorders. Cao et al. [18] reviewed a variety of gait rehabilitation exoske-
leton robots and the corresponding control strategies. Zhang et al. [19] compared a
variety of existing ankle rehabilitation robots developed for the treatment of mus-
culoskeletal and neurological injuries. The clinical effectiveness of these devices has
been preliminarily validated on patients with disabilities.
Since rehabilitation robots need to be operated on human users, this requires
the robotic design to be user friendly for training comfort and safety. Trajectory
tracking controllers are generally used for passive training, such as muscle
stretching exercises. Human-robot interaction forces should also be considered in
controlling the robot for interactive and adaptive training. Therefore, a rehabili-
tation robot needs to not only be capable of moving the user’s limb, but also be
capable of responding to real-time human–robot interaction. Adaptive parameter
adjustment of interactive controllers should be developed with the consideration
4 Soft robots for healthcare applications

of real-time disability level of the patient. These requirements introduce a

number of challenges into the design and control of assistive and rehabilitation
robots, as well as the selection of new actuator technologies. Some key issues or
requirements in developing assistive and rehabilitation robots for healthcare
applications are summarised in Table 1.2. A rehabilitation robot should conform

Table 1.2 Key issues to be considered in the development of rehabilitation

robots for healthcare

Key issues/ Specific implementation instructions

requirements
Kinematic A rehabilitation robot should conform to the anatomy of the human
compatibility limb to maintain kinematic compatibility during training exercises.
This can enhance the training safety and rehabilitation efficacy.
Training safety Training safety should be the prime concern in the development of
rehabilitation robots. While there are no rehabilitation robots with
absolute training safety, some measures can be taken to minimise
potential risks:
● Compatible robot structure to ensure training comfort and safety;
● Mechanical stops should be set up to make robots operate within
safe workspace;
● Emergency buttons should be available for both the
physiotherapist and the patient in case any unexpected accidents;
● Using soft materials to fabricate rehabilitation robots with intrinsic
compliance;
● Adaptive control strategies to allow adaptive training by
considering real-time disability level.
Interfaces A user interface is the space where interactions between humans and
machines occur. The goal of the interaction is to allow effective
operation and control of the machine from the human end, whilst the
machine simultaneously feeds back information that aids the
operators’ decision-making process. A user-friendly interface is
typically characterised by the following attributes: straightforward
and well-organised, intuitive to use and reliable. Rehabilitation
robots are designed to be operated by physiotherapists or patients,
and thus a user-friendly interface is highly desirable for the
acceptance of rehabilitation robots.
Actuators The desired actuator attributes for a rehabilitation robot are high
power–to-weight ratio, high bandwidth and low noise. The actuator is
better to have intrinsic compliance to enhance the training safety.
Mechanisms The appropriate selection of mechanisms for rehabilitation robots
depends on specific applications, including serial mechanism,
parallel mechanism and hybrid mechanism.
Design Optimisation techniques should be involved to achieve appropriate robot
optimisation workspace, actuation capacity, compact and efficient robotic design.
Adaptive control The rehabilitation robot needs to be capable of interacting and
responding to movements generated by human users. Adaptive
adjustments of the training difficulty or amount of assistance
provided by the robot are required to accommodate users with
different levels of disability.
 Introduction 5

to the anatomy of the human limb to maintain kinematic compatibility during

training exercises. Various precautions need to be taken to ensure the safety
of training, including mechanical and control designs. A user-friendly interface
is crucial to promote the acceptance of rehabilitation robots. The actuators with
intrinsic compliance and high control performance have greater potential on
rehabilitation robots out of the consideration of training comfort and safety.
Appropriate selection of mechanisms, including serial mechanism, parallel mecha-
nism and hybrid mechanism, depends on specific applications. Optimisation
process and comparative analysis can be conducted to meet a variety of design
requirements. Last but most importantly, a rehabilitation robot needs to be cap-
able of interacting and responding to human users’ movements. Robot-assisted
adaptive adjustments of the training difficulty or amount of assistance are
required to accommodate users with different levels of disability. These key issues
should be considered and well addressed to advance robot-assisted healthcare
techniques.

1.2 Soft robots for healthcare applications

From molecular machines to large-scale systems, from outer space to deep-sea
exploration, robots have become ubiquitous, and their impact on our lives and
society is growing at an accelerating pace [20]. Applications of robots involve the
fields of medical, industrial, land, sea, air, universe and service across all scales,
including the underlying principles of robotic systems covering actuation, sensor,
modelling, mechanism, learning and control.
Robots can be classified as hard or soft on the basis of the compliance of
their underlying materials [21]. Traditionally, engineers have employed rigid
materials to fabricate a variety of robotic systems. These robots are typically
used in well-defined environments in which they repetitively perform prescribed
movements with high precision. This capability has been successful exploited in
many applications, primarily in manufacturing. These robots are designed to be
stiff so that vibration and deformation of the structure do not affect the accuracy
of movement. In general, hard robots have multiple flexible joints connected
by stiff links. Each joint is flexible in one rotary or translational direction for a
DOF of robot motion. However, traditional robots have rigid underlying struc-
tures that limit their ability of human–robot interaction. For example, rigid
robots can only manipulate objects using their specially designed end effector,
which makes them often encounter difficulties when operating in unstructured
environments.
In fact, natural systems often match or exceed the performance of robotic
systems with deformable bodies. For example, cephalopods can achieve amazing
feats of manipulation and locomotion without a skeleton. Vertebrates such as
humans achieve dynamic gaits by storing elastic energy in their compliant bones
and soft tissues. In recent years, researchers have been inspired by biology to
design and build soft robots for various applications. With a soft structure and
redundant DOFs, these robots can be used for delicate tasks in cluttered and/or
6 Soft robots for healthcare applications

unstructured environments [21]. For healthcare applications, soft robots show great
potential due to their intrinsic compliance.

1.2.1 Definition of soft robots

Soft robotics is a sub-field of robotics that deals with non-rigid robots constructed
with soft and deformable materials like silicone, plastic, fabric, rubber, or com-
pliant mechanical parts like springs. A soft robot is inherently compliant and
exhibits large strains in normal operation. It can interact with the environment with
large deformations relying on its inherent compliance and softness. Table 1.3
compares the characteristics and capabilities of soft and hard robots.
Soft robots have a few advantages over rigid robots. First, deformable struc-
tures allow robots to deal with highly dynamic tasks and environments, for
example, locomotion in rough and unknown terrain or grasping of unknown
objects. Second, the usage of soft materials in the fabrication of robots allows for
safe physical contact with people, which provides an opportunity to bridge the gap
between robots and human users. Third, deformable materials and structures such
as springs are potentially able to store and release energy, which is beneficial
for energy efficient locomotion. The fourth advantage of soft robots is that soft
materials are cheaper than metal parts with satisfactory actuation capacity. Lastly,
soft robots have bodies made out of intrinsically soft and/or extensible materials
that can absorb much of the energy arising from a collision. These features of
soft robots all contribute to the improvement of robot-assisted training comfort
and safety.

Table 1.3 Characteristics and capabilities of hard and soft robots [21]

Rigid robot Soft robot

Properties
DOFs Few Infinite
Actuators Few, discrete Continuous
Materials strain None Large
Materials Metal, plastics Rubber, electroactive polymer
Capabilities
Accuracy Very high Low
Load capacity High Lowest
Safety Dangerous Safe
Dexterity Low High
Working environment Structured only Structured and unstructured
Manipulable objects Fixed size Variable size
Conformability to obstacles None Highest
Design
Controllability Easy Difficult
Path planning Easy Difficult
Position sensing Easy Difficult
Inspiration Mammalian limbs Muscular hydrostats
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of A caution to

Great Britain and her colonies, in a short

representation of the calamitous state of the

enslaved Negroes in the British dominions
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: A caution to Great Britain and her colonies, in a short

representation of the calamitous state of the enslaved
Negroes in the British dominions

Author: Anthony Benezet

Release date: June 17, 2022 [eBook #68337]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: None listed, 1784

Credits: Robert Tonsing and The Online Distributed Proofreading

Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CAUTION

TO GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES, IN A SHORT
REPRESENTATION OF THE CALAMITOUS STATE OF THE
ENSLAVED NEGROES IN THE BRITISH DOMINIONS ***
 A

C A U T I O N
TO

G R E AT B R I TA I N
A N D

H E R C O L O N I E S,
IN A

SHORT REPRESENTATION
OF THE

CALAMITOUS STATE of the

E N S L AV E D N E G R O E S
IN THE

B R I T I S H D O M I N I O N S.

A N E W E D I T I O N.

By A N T. B E N E Z E T.
PHILADELPHIA Printed: LONDON Reprinted
and Sold by J A M E S P H I L L I P S, in
George-Yard, Lombard-Street. 1784.
 A

C A U T I O N, &c.

AT a time when the general rights and liberties of mankind, and the
preservation of those valuable privileges transmitted to us from our
ancestors, are become so much the subjects of universal
consideration; can it be an inquiry indifferent to any, how many of
those who distinguish themselves as the Advocates of Liberty,
remain insensible and inattentive to the treatment of thousands and
tens of thousands of our fellow men, who, from motives of avarice,
and the inexorable decree of tyrant custom, are at this very time kept
in the most deplorable state of Slavery, in many parts of the British
Dominions?
The intent of publishing the following sheets, is more fully to make
known the aggravated iniquity attending the practice of the Slave-
Trade; whereby many thousands of our fellow-creatures, as free as
ourselves by nature, and equally with us the subjects of Christ’s
redeeming Grace, are yearly brought into inextricable and barbarous
bondage; and many, very many, to miserable and untimely ends.
The Truth of this lamentable Complaint is so obvious to persons of
candour, under whose notice it hath fallen, that several have lately
published their sentiments thereon, as a matter which calls for the
most serious consideration of all who are concerned for the civil or
religious welfare of their Country. How an evil of so deep a dye, hath
so long, not only passed uninterrupted by those in Power, but hath
even had their Countenance, is indeed surprising; and charity would
suppose, must in a great measure have arisen from this, that many
persons in government, both of the Clergy and Laity, in whose power
it hath been to put a stop to the Trade, have been unacquainted with
the corrupt motives which gives life to it, and with the groans, the
dying groans, which daily ascend to God, the common Father of
mankind, from the broken hearts of those his deeply oppressed
creatures: otherwise the powers of the earth would not, I think I may
venture to say could not, have so long authorized a practice so
inconsistent with every idea of liberty and justice, which, as the
learned James Foster says, Bids that God, which is the God and
Father of the Gentiles, unconverted to Christianity, most daring and
bold defiance; and spurns at all the principles both of natural and
revealed Religion.
Much might justly be said of the temporal evils which attend this
practice, as it is destructive of the welfare of human society, and of
the peace and prosperity of every country, in proportion as it
prevails. It might be also shewn, that it destroys the bonds of natural
affection and interest, whereby mankind in general are united; that it
introduces idleness, discourages marriage, corrupts the youth, ruins
and debauches morals, excites continual apprehensions of dangers,
and frequent alarms, to which the Whites are necessarily exposed
from so great an increase of a People, that, by their Bondage and
Oppressions, become natural enemies, yet, at the same time, are
filling the places and eating the bread of those who would be the
Support and Security of the Country. But as these and many more
reflections of the same kind, may occur to a considerate mind, I shall
only endeavour to shew, from the nature of the Trade, the plenty
which Guinea affords to its inhabitants, the barbarous Treatment of
the Negroes, and the Observations made thereon by Authors of
note, that it is inconsistent with the plainest Precepts of the Gospel,
the dictates of reason, and every common sentiment of humanity.
In an Account of the European Settlements in America, printed in
London, 1757, the Author, speaking on this Subject, says: ‘The
Negroes in our Colonies endure a Slavery more complete, and
attended with far worse circumstances than what any people in their
condition suffer in any other part of the world, or have suffered in any
other period of time: Proofs of this are not wanting. The prodigious
waste which we experience in this unhappy part of our Species, is a
full and melancholy Evidence of this Truth. The Island of Barbadoes
(the Negroes upon which do not amount to eighty thousand)
notwithstanding all the means which they use to encrease them by
Propagation, and that the Climate is in every respect (except that of
being more wholesome) exactly resembling the Climate from
whence they come; notwithstanding all this, Barbadoes lies under a
necessity of an annual recruit of five thousand slaves, to keep up the
stock at the number I have mentioned. This prodigious failure, which
is at least in the same proportion in all our Islands, shews
demonstratively that some uncommon and unsupportable Hardship
lies upon the Negroes, which wears them down in such a surprising
manner; and this, I imagine, is principally the excessive labour which
they undergo.’ In an Account of part of North-America, published by
Thomas Jeffery, printed 1761, speaking of the usage the Negroes
receive in the West-India Islands, he thus expresses himself: ‘It is
impossible for a human heart to reflect upon the servitude of these
dregs of mankind, without in some measure feeling for their misery,
which ends but with their lives.——Nothing can be more wretched
than the condition of this People. One would imagine, they were
framed to be the disgrace of the human species: banished from their
Country, and deprived of that blessing, Liberty, on which all other
nations set the greatest value, they are in a manner reduced to the
condition of beasts of burden. In general a few roots, potatoes
especially, are their food; and two rags, which neither screen them
from the heat of the day, nor the extraordinary coolness of the night,
all their covering; their sleep very short; their labour almost continual;
they receive no wages, but have twenty lashes for the smallest fault.’
A considerate young person, who was lately in one of our West-
India Islands, where he observed the miserable situation of the
Negroes, makes the following remarks: ‘I meet with daily exercise, to
see the treatment which these miserable wretches meet with from
their masters, with but few exceptions. They whip them most
unmercifully, on small occasions; they beat them with thick Clubs,
and you will see their Bodies all whaled and scarred: in short, they
seem to set no other value on their lives than as they cost them so
much money; and are not retrained from killing them, when angry, by
a worthier consideration than that they lose so much. They act as
though they did not look upon them as a race of human creatures,
who have reason, and remembrance of misfortunes; but as beasts,
like oxen, who are stubborn, hardy and senseless, fit for burdens,
and designed to bear them. They will not allow them to have any
claim to human privileges, or scarce, indeed, to be regarded as the
work of God. Though it was consistent with the justice of our Maker
to pronounce the sentence on our common parent, and through him
on all succeeding generations, That he and they should eat their
bread by the sweat of their brow; yet does it not stand recorded by
the same Eternal Truth, That the Labourer is worthy of his Hire? It
cannot be allowed in natural justice, that there should be a servitude
without condition: A cruel endless servitude. It cannot be
reconcileable to natural justice, that whole nations, nay, whole
continents of men, should be devoted to do the drudgery of life for
others, be dragged away from their attachments of relations and
societies, and made to serve the appetites and pleasures of a race
of men, whose superiority has been obtained by an illegal force.’
A particular account of the treatment these unhappy Africans
receive in the West-Indies was lately published, which, even by
those who, blinded by interest, seek excuses for the Trade, and
endeavour to palliate the cruelty exercised upon them, is allowed to
be a true, though rather too favourable representation of the usage
they receive, which is as follows, viz. ‘The iniquity of the Slave-trade
is greatly aggravated by the inhumanity with which the Negroes are
treated in the Plantations, as well with respect to food and clothing,
as from the unreasonable labour which is commonly exacted from
them. To which may be added the cruel chastisements they
frequently suffer, without any other bounds than the will and wrath of
their hard task-masters. In Barbadoes, and some other of the
Islands, six pints of Indian corn and three herrings are reckoned a
full weeks allowance for a working slave, and in the System of
Geography it is said, That in Jamaica the owners of the Negroe-
slaves, set aside for each a parcel of ground, and allow them
Sundays to manure it, the produce of which, with sometimes a few
herrings, or other salt-fish, is all that is allowed for their support.
Their allowance for clothing in the Islands is seldom more than six
yards of osenbrigs each year: And in the more northern Colonies,
where the piercing westerly winds are long and sensibly felt, these
poor Africans suffer much for want of sufficient clothing, indeed some
have none till they are able to pay for it by their labour. The time that
the Negroes work in the West-Indies, is from day-break till noon;
then again from two o’clock till dusk: (during which time they are
attended by overseers, who severely scourge those who appear to
them dilatory) and before they are suffered to go to their quarters,
they have still something to do, as collecting of herbage for the
horses, gathering fuel for the boilers, etc. so that it is often half past
twelve before they can get home, when they have scarce time to
grind and boil their Indian corn; whereby it often happens that they
are called again to labour before they can satisfy their Hunger. And
here no delay or excuse will avail, for if they are not in the Field
immediately upon the usual notice, they must expect to feel the
Overseer’s Lash. In crop-time (which lasts many months) they are
obliged (by turns) to work most of the night in the boiling-house.
Thus their Owners, from a desire of making the greatest gain by the
labour of their slaves, lay heavy Burdens on them, and yet feed and
clothe them very sparingly, and some scarce feed or clothe them at
all, so that the poor creatures are obliged to shift for their living in the
best manner they can, which occasions their being often killed in the
neighbouring lands, stealing potatoes, or other food, to satisfy their
hunger. And if they take any thing from the plantation they belong to,
though under such pressing want, their owners will correct them
severely, for taking a little of what they have so hardly laboured for,
whilst they themselves riot in the greatest luxury and excess.—It is a
matter of astonishment, how a people, who, as a nation, are looked
upon as generous and humane, and so much value themselves for
their uncommon sense of the Benefit of Liberty, can live in the
practice of such extreme oppression and inhumanity, without seeing
the inconsistency of such conduct, and without feeling great
Remorse: Nor is it less amazing to hear these men calmly making
calculations about the strength and lives of their fellow-men; in
Jamaica, if six in ten, of the new imported Negroes survive the
seasoning, it is looked upon as a gaining purchase: And in most of
the other plantations, if the Negroes live eight or nine years, their
labour is reckoned a sufficient compensation for their cost.——If
calculations of this sort were made upon the strength and labour of
beasts of burden, it would not appear so strange; but even then a
merciful man would certainly use his beast with more mercy than is
usually shewn to the poor Negroes.—Will not the groans of this
deeply afflicted and oppressed people reach Heaven, and when the
cup of iniquity is full, must not the inevitable consequence be pouring
forth of the judgments of God upon their oppressors. But, alas! is it
not too manifest that this oppression has already long been the
object of the divine displeasure; for what heavier judgment, what
greater calamity can befall any people, than to become a prey to that
hardness of heart, that forgetfulness of God, and insensibility to
every religious impression; as well as that general depravation of
manners, which so much prevails in the Colonies, in proportion as
they have more or less enriched themselves, at the expence of the
blood and bondage of the Negroes.’
The situation of the Negroes in our Southern provinces on the
Continent, is also feelingly set forth by George Whitfield, in a Letter
from Georgia, to the Inhabitants of Maryland, Virginia, North and
South-Carolina, printed in the Year 1739, of which the following is an
extract: ‘As I lately passed through your provinces, in my way hither,
I was sensibly touched with a fellow-feeling of the miseries of the
poor Negroes. Whether it be lawful for Christians to buy slaves, and
thereby encourage the Nations from whom they are bought, to be at
perpetual war with each other, I shall not take upon me to determine;
sure I am, it is sinful, when bought, to use them as bad, nay worse
than as though they were brutes; and whatever particular exception
there may be, (as I would charitably hope there are some) I fear the
generality of you, that own Negroes, are liable to such a charge; for
your slaves, I believe, work as hard, if not harder, than the horses
whereon you ride. These, after they have done their work, are fed
and taken proper care of; but many Negroes, when wearied with
labour, in your plantations, have been obliged to grind their own
corn, after they return home. Your dogs are caressed and fondled at
your table; but your slaves, who are frequently stiled dogs or beasts,
have not an equal privilege; they are scarce permitted to pick up the
crumbs which fall from their master’s table.—Not to mention what
numbers have been given up to the inhuman usage of cruel task-
masters, who, by their unrelenting scourges, have ploughed their
backs, and made long furrows, and at length brought them even to
death. When passing along, I have viewed your plantations cleared
and cultivated, many spacious houses built, and the owners of them
faring sumptuously every day, my blood has frequently almost run
cold within me, to consider how many of your slaves had neither
convenient food to eat, or proper raiment to put on, notwithstanding
most of the comforts you enjoy were solely owing to their
indefatigable labours.—The Scripture says, Thou shalt not muzzle
the ox that treadeth out the corn. Does God take care for oxen? and
will he not take care of the Negroes also? undoubtedly he will.—Go
to now ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come
upon you: Behold the provision of the poor Negroes, who have
reaped down your fields, which is by you denied them, crieth; and
the cries of them which reaped, are entered into the ears of the Lord
of Sabbath. We have a remarkable instance of God’s taking
cognizance of, and avenging the quarrel of poor slaves, 2 Sam. xxi.
1. There was a famine in the days of David three years, year after
year; and David enquired of the Lord: And the Lord answered, It is
for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
Two things are here very remarkable: First, These Gibeonites were
only hewers of wood and drawers of water, or in other words, slaves
like yours. Secondly, That this plague was sent by God many years
after the injury, the cause of the plague, was committed. And for
what end were this and such like examples recorded in holy
Scriptures? without doubt, for our learning.—For God is the same to-
day as he was yesterday, and will continue the same for ever. He
does not reject the prayer of the poor and destitute; nor disregard the
cry of the meanest Negro. The blood of them spilt for these many
years in your respective provinces will ascend up to heaven against
you.’
Some who have only seen Negroes in an abject state of slavery,
broken-spirited and dejected, knowing nothing of their situation in
their native country, may apprehend, that they are naturally
insensible of the benefits of Liberty, being destitute and miserable in
every respect, and that our suffering them to live amongst us (as the
Gibeonites of old were permitted to live with the Israelites) though
even on more oppressive terms, is to them a favour; but these are
certainly erroneous opinions, with respect to far the greatest part of
them: Although it is highly probable that in a country which is more
than three thousand miles in extent from north to south, and as much
from east to west, there will be barren parts, and many inhabitants
more uncivilized and barbarous than others; as is the case in all
other countries: yet, from the most authentic accounts, the
inhabitants of Guinea appear, generally speaking, to be an
industrious, humane, sociable people, whose capacities are naturally
as enlarged, and as open to improvement, as those of the
Europeans; and that their Country is fruitful, and in many places well
improved, abounding in cattle, grain and fruits. And as the earth
yields all the year round a fresh supply of food, and but little clothing
is requisite, by reason of the continual warmth of the climate; the
necessaries of life are much easier procured in most parts of Africa,
than in our more northern climes. This is confirmed by many authors
of note, who have resided there; among others, M. Adanson, in his
account of Goree and Senegal, in the year 1754, says, ‘Which way
soever I turned my eyes on this pleasant spot, I beheld a perfect
image of pure nature; an agreeable solitude, bounded on every side
by charming landscapes, the rural situation of cottages in the midst
of trees; the ease and indolence of the Negroes reclined under the
shade of their spreading foliage; the simplicity of their dress and
manners; the whole revived in my mind the idea of our first parents,
and I seemed to contemplate the world in its primitive state: They
are, generally speaking, very good-natured, sociable and obliging. I
was not a little pleased with this my first reception; it convinced me,
that there ought to be a considerable abatement made in the
accounts I had read and heard every where of the savage character
of the Africans. I observed, both in Negroes and Moors, great
humanity and sociableness, which gave me strong hopes, that I
should be very safe amongst them, and meet with the success I
desired, in my inquiries after the curiosities of the country.’
William Bosman, a principal Factor for the Dutch, who resided
sixteen years in Guinea, speaking of the natives of that part where
he then was, says, ‘They are generally a good sort of people, honest
in their dealings;’ others he describes as ‘being generally friendly to
strangers, of a mild conversation, affable, and easy to be overcome
with reason.’ He adds, ‘That some Negroes, who have had an
agreeable education, have manifested a brightness of understanding
equal to any of us.’ Speaking of the fruitfulness of the country, he
says, ‘It was very populous, plentifully provided with corn, potatoes
and fruit, which grew close to each other; in some places a foot-path
is the only ground that is not covered with them; the Negroes leaving
no place, which is thought fertile, uncultivated; and immediately after
they have reaped, they are sure to sow again.’ Other parts he
describes, as ‘being full of towns and villages; the soil very rich, and
so well cultivated, as to look like an entire garden, abounding in rice,
corn, oxen, and poultry, and the inhabitants laborious.’
William Smith, who was sent by the African Company to visit their
settlements on the coast of Guinea, in the year 1726, gives much the
same account of the country of Delmina and Cape Corse, &c. for
beauty and goodness, and adds, ‘The more you come downward
towards that part, called Slave-Coast, the more delightful and rich
the soil appears.’ Speaking of their disposition, he says, ‘They were
a civil, good-natured people, industrious to the last degree. It is easy
to perceive what happy memories they are blessed with, and how
great progress they would make in the sciences, in case their genius
was cultivated with study.’ He adds, from the information he received
of one of the Factors, who had resided ten years in that country,
‘That the discerning natives account it their greatest unhappiness,
that they were ever visited by the Europeans.—That the Christians
introduced the traffick of Slaves; and that before our coming they
lived in peace.’
Andrew Brue, a principal man in the French Factory, in the
account he gives of the great river Senegal, which runs many
hundred miles up the country, tells his readers, ‘The farther you go
from the Sea, the country on the river seems more fruitful and well
improved. It abounds in Guinea and Indian corn, rice, pulse, tobacco,
and indigo. Here are vast meadows, which feed large herds of great
and small cattle; poultry are numerous, as well as wild fowl.’ The
same Author, in his travels to the south of the river Gambia,
expresses his surprize, ‘to see the land so well cultivated; scarce a
spot lay unimproved; the low grounds, divided by small canals, were
all sowed with rice; the higher ground planted with Indian corn, millet,
and peas of different sorts: beef and mutton very cheap, as well as
all other necessaries of life.’ The account this Author gives of the
disposition of the natives, is, ‘That they are generally good-natured
and civil, and may be brought to any thing by fair and soft means.’
Artus, speaking of the same people, says, ‘They are a sincere,
inoffensive people, and do no injustice either to one another or
strangers.’
From these Accounts, both of the good Disposition of the Natives,
and the Fruitfulness of most parts of Guinea, which are confirmed by
many other Authors, it may well be concluded, that their
acquaintance with the Europeans would have been a happiness to
them, had those last not only borne the name, but indeed been
influenced by the Spirit of Christianity; but, alas! how hath the
Conduct of the Whites contradicted the Precepts and Example of
Christ? Instead of promoting the End of his Coming, by preaching
the Gospel of Peace and Good-will to Man, they have, by their
practices, contributed to enflame every noxious passion of corrupt
nature in the Negroes; they have incited them to make war one upon
another, and for this purpose have furnished them with prodigious
quantities of ammunition and arms, whereby they have been hurried
into confusion, bloodshed, and all the extremities of temporal misery,
which must necessarily beget in their minds such a general
detestation and scorn of the Christian name, as may deeply affect, if
not wholly preclude, their belief of the great Truths of our holy
Religion. Thus an insatiable desire of gain hath become the principal
and moving cause of the most abominable and dreadful scene, that
was perhaps ever acted upon the face of the earth; even the power
of their Kings hath been made subservient to answer this wicked
purpose, instead of being Protectors of their people, these Rulers,
allured by the tempting bait laid before them by the European
Factors, &c. have invaded the Liberties of their unhappy subjects,
and are become their Oppressors.
Divers accounts have already appeared in print, declarative of the
shocking wickedness with which this Trade is carried on; these may
not have fallen into the hands of some of my readers, I shall,
therefore, for their information, select a few of the most remarkable
instances that I have met with, shewing the method by which the
Trade is commonly managed all along the African coast.
Francis Moor, Factor to the African Company, on the river Gambia,
relates, ‘That when the King of Barsalli wants goods, &c. he sends a
messenger to the English Governor at James’s Fort, to desire he
would send up a sloop with a cargo of goods; which (says the
author) the Governor never fails to do: Against the time the vessel
arrives, the King plunders some of his enemies towns, selling the
people for such goods as he wants.—If he is not at war with any
neighbouring King, he falls upon one of his own towns, and makes
bold to sell his own miserable subjects.’
N. Brue, in his account of the Trade, &c. writes, ‘That having
received a quantity of goods, he wrote to the King of the country,
That if he had a sufficient number of slaves, he was ready to trade
with him. This Prince (says that author) as well as other Negroe
Monarchs, has always a sure way of supplying his deficiencies by
selling his own subjects.—The King had recourse to this method, by
seizing three hundred of his own people, and sent word to Brue, that
he had the slaves ready to deliver for the goods.’
The Misery and Bloodshed, consequent to the Slave-trade, is
amply set forth by the following extracts of two voyages to the coast
of Guinea for slaves. The first in a vessel from Liverpool, taken
verbatim from the original manuscript of the Surgeon’s journal, viz.
‘Sestro, December the 29th, 1724. No trade to-day, though many
Traders come on board; they inform us, that the people are gone to
war within land, and will bring prisoners enough in two or three days:
in hopes of which we stay.
‘The 30th. No trade yet, but our Traders came on board to-day,
and informed us, the people had burnt four towns of their enemies,
so that to-morrow we expect slaves off. Another large ship is come
in: Yesterday came in a large Londoner.
 ‘The 31st. Fair weather, but no trade yet: We see each night towns
burning; but we hear the Sestro men are many of them killed by the
inland Negroes, so that we fear this war will be unsuccessful.
‘The 2d January. Last night we saw a prodigious fire break out
about eleven o’clock, and this morning see the town of Sestro burnt
down to the ground, (it contained some hundreds of houses) so that
we find their enemies are too hard for them at present, and
consequently our trade spoiled here; so that about seven o’clock we
weighed anchor, as did likewise the three other vessels, to proceed
lower down.’
The second relation, also taken from the original manuscript
journal of a person of credit, who went Surgeon on the same account
in a vessel from New-York to the coast of Guinea, about nineteen
years past, is as follows, viz.
‘Being on the coast at a place called Basalia, the Commander of
the vessel, according to custom, sent a person on shore with a
present to the King, acquainting him with his arrival, and letting him
know, they wanted a cargo of slaves. The King promised to furnish
them with slaves; and in order to do it, set out to go to war against
his enemies, designing also to surprize some town, and take all the
people prisoners: Some time after, the King sent them word, he had
not yet met with the desired success, having been twice repulsed, in
attempting to break up two towns; but that he still hoped to procure a
number of slaves for them; and in this design he persisted till he met
his enemies in the field, where a battle was fought, which lasted
three days; during which time the engagement was so bloody, that
four thousand five hundred men were slain on the spot.’ The person,
that wrote the account, beheld the bodies as they lay on the field of
battle. ‘Think (says he in his journal) what a pitiable sight it was, to
see the widows weeping over their lost husbands, orphans deploring
the loss of their fathers, &c. &c.’
Those who are acquainted with the Trade agree, that many
Negroes on the sea-coast, who have been corrupted by their
intercourse and converse with the European Factors, have learnt to
stick at no act of cruelty for gain. These make it a practice to steal
abundance of little Blacks of both sexes, when found on the roads or
in the fields, where their parents keep them all day to watch the corn,
&c. Some authors say, the Negroe Factors go six or seven hundred
miles up the country with goods, bought from the Europeans, where
markets of men are kept in the same manner as those of beasts with
us. When the poor slaves, whether brought from far or near, come to
the sea-shore, they are stripped naked, and strictly examined by the
European Surgeons, both men and women, without the least
distinction or modesty; those which are approved as good, are
marked with a red-hot iron with the ship’s mark; after which they are
put on board the vessels, the men being shackled with irons two and
two together. Reader, bring the matter home, and consider whether
any situation in life can be more completely miserable than that of
those distressed captives. When we reflect, that each individual of
this number had some tender attachment which was broken by this
cruel separation; some parent or wife, who had not an opportunity of
mingling tears in a parting embrace; perhaps some infant or aged
parent whom his labour was to feed and vigilance protect;
themselves under the dreadful apprehension of an unknown
perpetual slavery; pent up within the narrow confines of a vessel,
sometimes six or seven hundred together, where they lie as close as
possible. Under these complicated distresses they are often reduced
to a state of desperation, wherein many have leaped into the sea,
and have kept themselves under water till they were drowned; others
have starved themselves to death, for the prevention whereof some
masters of vessels have cut off the legs and arms of a number of
those poor desperate creatures, to terrify the rest. Great numbers
have also frequently been killed, and some deliberately put to death
under the greatest torture, when they have attempted to rise, in order
to free themselves from their present misery, and the slavery
designed them. An instance of the last kind appears particularly in an
account given by the master of a vessel, who brought a cargo of
slaves to Barbadoes; indeed it appears so irreconcileable to the
common dictates of humanity, that one would doubt the truth of it,
had it not been related by a serious person of undoubted credit, who
had it from the captain’s own mouth. Upon an inquiry, What had
been the success of his voyage? he answered, ‘That he had found it
a difficult matter to set the negroes a fighting with each other, in
order to procure the number he wanted; but that when he had
obtained this end, and had got his vessel filled with slaves, a new
difficulty arose from their refusal to take food; those desperate
creatures chusing rather to die with hunger, than to be carried from
their native country.’ Upon a farther inquiry, by what means he had
prevailed upon them to forego this desperate resolution? he
answered, ‘That he obliged all the negroes to come upon deck,
where they persisted in their resolution of not taking food, he caused
his sailors to lay hold upon one of the most obstinate, and chopt the
poor creature into small pieces, forcing some of the others to eat a
part of the mangled body; withal swearing to the survivors, that he
would use them all, one after the other, in the same manner, if they
did not consent to eat.’ This horrid execution he applauded as a
good act, it having had the desired effect, in bringing them to take
food.
A similar case is mentioned in Astley’s Collection of Voyages, by
John Atkins, Surgeon on board Admiral Ogle’s squadron, ‘Of one
Harding, mailer of a vessel, in which several of the men-slaves, and
a woman-slave, had attempted to rise, in order to recover their
liberty; some of whom the master, of his own authority, sentenced to
cruel death; making them first eat the heart and liver of one of those
he killed. The woman he hoisted by the thumbs; whipped and
slashed with knives before the other slaves, till she died.’
As detestable and shocking as this may appear to such, whose
hearts are not yet hardened by the practice of that cruelty, which the
love of wealth, by degrees, introduceth into the human mind; it will
not be strange to those who have been concerned or employed in
the Trade. Now here arises a necessary query to those who hold the
balance and sword of justice; and who must account to God for the
use they have made of it. Since our English law is so truly valuable
for its justice, how can they overlook these barbarous deaths of the
unhappy Africans without trial, or due proof of their being guilty, of
crimes adequate to their punishment? Why are those masters of
vessels, (who are often not the most tender and considerate of men)
thus suffered to be the sovereign arbiters of the lives of the