Innovative Hand Exoskeleton Design for Extravehicular Activities in Space
Innovative Hand Exoskeleton Design for Extravehicular Activities in Space

Author: Pierluigi Freni

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-06-23

Total Pages: 98

ISBN-13: 331903958X

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Environmental conditions and pressurized spacesuits expose astronauts to problems of fatigue during lengthy extravehicular activities, with adverse impacts especially on the dexterity, force and endurance of the hands and arms. A state-of-the-art exploration in the field of hand exoskeletons revealed that available products are unsuitable for space applications because of their bulkiness and mass. This book proposes a novel approach to the development of hand exoskeletons, based on an innovative soft robotics concept that relies on the exploitation of electroactive polymers operating as sensors and actuators, on a combination of electromyography and mechanomyography for detection of the user’s will and on neural networks for control. The result is a design that should enhance astronauts’ performance during extravehicular activities. In summary, the advantages of the described approach are a low-weight, high-flexibility exoskeleton that allows for dexterity and compliance with the user’s will.

An Unpowered Exoskeleton to Reduce Astronaut Hand Fatigue During Microgravity EVA
An Unpowered Exoskeleton to Reduce Astronaut Hand Fatigue During Microgravity EVA

Author: Alan John Carey

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781369202564

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Astronaut hand fatigue during Extravehicular Activity (EVA) and EVA training is a critical risk in human space exploration. Improved glove designs over the past forty years have reduced hand fatigue, but limitations of the technology prevent major improvements to reduce hand fatigue. Therefore, a mechanism to assist astronauts by reducing hand fatigue was explored. Many organizations have already developed exoskeletons to assist astronauts, but all mechanisms developed required electrically powered actuators and control systems to enhance grip strength. However, astronauts already possess the strength required to actuate the glove; what is needed is a method to reduce fatigue without introducing electromechanical complexity. A passive mechanical system was developed as a proof-of-concept to test the feasibility of an unpowered exoskeleton to maintain static grip around an object. The semi- rigid nature of an inflated pressure glove provided an ideal substrate to mount a mechanism and associated components to allow an astronaut to release his/her grip inside the glove while maintaining attitude, as the mechanism will keep the glove closed around an object.Three prototypes were fabricated and tested to evaluate the architecture. The final two prototypes were tested on a real pressure suit glove at Final Frontier Design (FFD), and the third mechanism demonstrated attachment and basic operating principles. At University of California (UC) Davis, pressure glove analogs were fabricated from a baseball batting glove and polystyrene to simulate a real pressure glove without the risk of testing in a reduced pressure environment (i.e. a glove box). Testing of the third prototype showed a reduction in fatigue as measured by Maximum Voluntary Contraction (MVC) grip force over a 30 second period when the mechanism assisted gripping an object.

Wearable Robots
Wearable Robots

Author: José L. Pons

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2008-04-15

Total Pages: 358

ISBN-13: 0470987650

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A wearable robot is a mechatronic system that is designed around the shape and function of the human body, with segments and joints corresponding to those of the person it is externally coupled with. Teleoperation and power amplification were the first applications, but after recent technological advances the range of application fields has widened. Increasing recognition from the scientific community means that this technology is now employed in telemanipulation, man-amplification, neuromotor control research and rehabilitation, and to assist with impaired human motor control. Logical in structure and original in its global orientation, this volume gives a full overview of wearable robotics, providing the reader with a complete understanding of the key applications and technologies suitable for its development. The main topics are demonstrated through two detailed case studies; one on a lower limb active orthosis for a human leg, and one on a wearable robot that suppresses upper limb tremor. These examples highlight the difficulties and potentialities in this area of technology, illustrating how design decisions should be made based on these. As well as discussing the cognitive interaction between human and robot, this comprehensive text also covers: the mechanics of the wearable robot and it’s biomechanical interaction with the user, including state-of-the-art technologies that enable sensory and motor interaction between human (biological) and wearable artificial (mechatronic) systems; the basis for bioinspiration and biomimetism, general rules for the development of biologically-inspired designs, and how these could serve recursively as biological models to explain biological systems; the study on the development of networks for wearable robotics. Wearable Robotics: Biomechatronic Exoskeletons will appeal to lecturers, senior undergraduate students, postgraduates and other researchers of medical, electrical and bio engineering who are interested in the area of assistive robotics. Active system developers in this sector of the engineering industry will also find it an informative and welcome resource.

Underactuated Robotic Hands
Underactuated Robotic Hands

Author: Lionel Birglen

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2008-02-11

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 3540774580

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This is a cornerstone publication in robotic grasping. The authors have developed an internationally recognized expertise in this area. Additionally, they designed and built several prototypes which attracted the attention of the scientific community. The purpose of this book is to summarize years of research and to present, in an attractive format, the expertise developed by the authors on a new technology for grasping which has achieved great success both in theory and in practice.

Wearable Robotics
Wearable Robotics

Author: Jacob Rosen

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2019-11-16

Total Pages: 551

ISBN-13: 0128146605

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Wearable Robotics: Systems and Applications provides a comprehensive overview of the entire field of wearable robotics, including active orthotics (exoskeleton) and active prosthetics for the upper and lower limb and full body. In its two major sections, wearable robotics systems are described from both engineering perspectives and their application in medicine and industry. Systems and applications at various levels of the development cycle are presented, including those that are still under active research and development, systems that are under preliminary or full clinical trials, and those in commercialized products. This book is a great resource for anyone working in this field, including researchers, industry professionals and those who want to use it as a teaching mechanism. Provides a comprehensive overview of the entire field, with both engineering and medical perspectives Helps readers quickly and efficiently design and develop wearable robotics for healthcare applications

New Advances in Mechanisms, Transmissions and Applications
New Advances in Mechanisms, Transmissions and Applications

Author: Victor Petuya

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-08-04

Total Pages: 421

ISBN-13: 9400774850

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The Second Conference on Mechanisms, Transmissions and Applications - MeTrApp 2013 was organised by the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of the Basque Country (Spain) under the patronage of the IFToMM Technical Committees Linkages and Mechanical Controls and Micromachines and the Spanish Association of Mechanical Engineering. The aim of the workshop was to bring together researchers, scientists, industry experts and students to provide, in a friendly and stimulating environment, the opportunity to exchange know-how and promote collaboration in the field of Mechanism and Machine Science. The topics treated in this volume are mechanism and machine design, biomechanics, mechanical transmissions, mechatronics, computational and experimental methods, dynamics of mechanisms and micromechanisms and microactuators.