An exoskeleton is an external structural mechanism with joints and links corresponding to those of the human body. With applications in rehabilitation medicine and virtual reality simulation, exoskeletons offer benefits for both disabled and healthy populations. A pilot database defining the kinematics and dynamics of the upper limb during daily living activities was one among several factors guiding the development of an anthropomorphic, 7-DOF, powered arm exoskeleton. Additional design inputs include anatomical and physiological considerations, workspace analyses, and upper limb joint ranges of motion. The database was compiled from 19 arm activities of daily living. The cable-actuated dexterous exoskeleton for neurorehabilitation (CADEN)-7 offers remarkable opportunities as a versatile human-machine interface and as a new generation of assistive technology. Proximal placement of motors and distal placement of cable-pulley reductions were incorporated into the design, leading to low inertia, high-stiffness links, and backdrivable transmissions with zero backlash. The design enables full glenohumeral, elbow, and wrist joint functionality. Potential applications of the exoskeleton as a wearable robot include: 1) a therapeutic and diagnostics device for physiotherapy, 2) an assistive (orthotic) device for human power amplifications, 3) a haptic device in virtual reality simulation, and 4) a master device for teleoperation.

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It is quite possible that in the future, the Next Generation Robots (NGRs) will work with humans in industrial sectors to lift heavy materials, fetch parts, assist in mounting parts, etc. Gradually the physical safety barriers surrounding these industrial robots will be replaced with virtual barriers such as sensors and safety controllers. The mixing of humans, humanoids, and industrial robots will depend on the safety of the affected workers. This study looks for the availability of humanoid robots, which could be used, to test industrial robots safety systems. Because the study was conducted using public infor-mation, not every field for all the humanoids can be completed.

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To maximize performance and power efficiency, future multi-core architec-tures may be heterogeneous, incorporating some accelerator cores alongside the IA cores. Accelerator Exoskeletons provide a shared virtual memory heterogeneous multi-threaded programming paradigm for these accelerators using novel CPU instruction set extensions and software tool chains with an Intel Architec-ture (IA) look-n-feel. Firstly, we introduce the proposed architectural extensions known as the Exoskeleton Sequencer (EXO), which represents heterogeneous accelerators as ISA-based MIMD architecture resources, and a shared virtual memory heterogeneous multi-threaded program execution model that tightly couples specialized accelerator cores with general-purpose CPU cores. Then we introduce the C for Heterogeneous Integration (CHI) programming environment that includes a compiler, runtime, debugger, and performance-analysis tools. The CHI compiler extends the OpenMP pragma for heterogeneous multi-threading programming, and it produces a single fat binary with code sections corresponding to different instruction sets. The runtime can judiciously spread parallel computation across the heterogeneous cores to optimize performance and power.

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In dieser Arbeit wird ein Steuerungssystem für Exoskelette vorgestellt, das elektrische Signale vonMuskeln als zentrales Kommunikationsmittel zwischen dem menschlichen Benutzer und dem Exoskelett verwendet. Diese Signale werden auf der Hautoberfläche oberhalb ausgewählter Muskeln aufgezeichnet und spiegeln die Aktivierung der Muskeln wider. Sie werden durch ein ausgeklügeltes, aber vereinfachtes biomechanisches Modell des menschlichen Körpers ausgewertet, um die gewünschte Handlung des Benutzers abzuleiten. Eine Unterstützungsbewegung für diese gewünschte Handlung wird berechnet und durch das Exoskelett ausgeführt. Das biomechanischeModell vereint Ergebnisse von verschiedenen Forschergruppen aus der Biomechanik und Biomedizin und wendet dabei einige für die betrachtete Anwendung sinnvolle Vereinfachungen an. Es beinhaltet dabei Parameter, die bestimmte Eigenschaften des menschlichen Benutzers und dessen Zustand beschreiben. Für diese Parameter wird ein Kalibrationsverfahren vorgestellt, das sich lediglich auf am Exoskelett befindliche Sensoren stützt. Es bietet außerdem noch einen tiefen Einblick in die Funktionsweise des Modells. Ein Exoskelett zur Unterstützung der Kniebewegung wurde entworfen und aufgebaut, um das neu entwickelte Modell zu validieren und die Interaktion zwischen dem Menschen und dem Exoskelett während alltäglicher Bewegungen mit Kraftunterstützung zu untersuchen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Untersuchungen werden ebenfalls präsentiert.

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Artificial limbs and joints which behave like a biological limbs and joints employ a synthetic actuator which consume negligible power when exerting zero force, consume negligible power when outputting force at constant length (isometric) and while performing dissipative, nonconservative work, are capable of independently engaging flexion and extension tendon-like, series springs, are capable of independently varying joint position and stiffness, and exploit series elasticity for mechanical power amplification.

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