The demand for rehabilitation robots is increasing for the upcoming aging society. Power-assisting devices are considered promising for enhancing the mobility of elderly and disabled people. Other potential applications are for muscle rehabilitation and sports training. The main focus of this paper is to control the load of selected muscles by using a power-assisting device, thus enabling “pinpointed” motion support, rehabilitation, and training by explicitly specifying the target muscles. By taking into account the physical interaction between human muscle forces and actuator drivingforces during power-assisting, the feasibility of this muscle force control is analyzed as a constrained optimization problem. A prototype power-assisting device driven by pneumatic rubber actuators is developed. A control system is developed with a graphical user interface that provides an easy operation to designate desired forces for target muscles. The validity of the method is confirmed by experiments by measuring surface electromyographic (EMG) signals for target muscles.

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Категория: Научные статьи | Нет комментариев »

Если вы – как и большинство нашей редакции – обожаете фантастические фильмы со Шварцнеггером, то вы, конечно, знаете, что бессмертный (во всех смыслах) «Терминатор» является роботом модели 101 производства ужасающей корпорации Cyberdyne Systems.

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Категория: HAL 5 | Нет комментариев »

Не знаете, что делать, когда iPod «садится» во время прогулки? Телекоммуникационный гигант NTT объявил о разработке новой технологии, которая позволит заряжать портативные электронные устройства, используя энергию ходьбы.

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Категория: Энергия | Нет комментариев »

(EN)Provided is a rehabilitation supporting device (1) comprising a first frame (11) to be mounted along a first skeleton extending from an articulation, a second frame (12) to be mounted along a second skeleton extending from an articulation in a direction different from that of the first skeleton, an angle sensor (131) for detecting a rotational angle position between the first frame and the second frame, a bent-side biological signal sensor (14) for detecting the biological signal of a flexor, an extended-side biological signal sensor (15) for detecting the biological signal of an extensor, calibration means (31) for setting a bent-side correction value and an extended-side correction value individually, and a storage unit (34) for storing the individual correction values of the biological signals different for individuals, the bent-side correction value and the extended-side correction value.
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Категория: Патенты | Нет комментариев »

In this paper we describe the design and preliminary evaluation of an energetically-autonomous powered knee exoskeleton to facilitate running. The device consists of a knee brace in which a motorized mechanism actively places and removes a spring in parallel with the knee joint. This mechanism is controlled such that the spring is in parallel with the knee joint from approximately heel-strike to toe-off, and is removed from this state during the swing phase of running. In this way, the spring is intended to store energy at heel-strike which is then released when the heel leaves the ground, reducing the effort required by the quadriceps to exert this energy, thereby reducing the metabolic cost of running.

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Категория: Научные статьи | Нет комментариев »