Enhancing robotic^1,2 surface mobility systems are a fundamental Mars Exploration Program goal because many surface-investigation goals require traversing significant distances in widely varying terrain conditions. SILVRCLAW (Stowable, Inflatable, Large, Vectran, Rigidizable, Cold-resistant, Lightweight, All-terrain Wheel) is an inflatable, rigidizable wheel technology that enables compact robotic vehicles to be deployed with significant ground clearance. Such a vehicle could traverse aggressive rocky terrains with a resultant low obstacle density (less than one obstacle per ~100m), travel over chasms with >1m separation, and offer the mission operator the ability to navigate with orbital-imaging resolution (i.e. with Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Highrise telescope). Because of its high intrinsic mobility, SILVRCLAW can negotiate substantial obstacles, thus allowing a robotic rover to climb over obstacles as opposed to driving around them. Such capability could dramatically increase terrain access and rover range for a given weight class. In previous work, we reported on the development and initial testing of a SILVRCLAW exoskeleton wheel shell for purposes of understanding mobility performance and wear in Mars-like simulants. In this work we discuss environmental testbed results of a new cleated SILVRCLAW exoskeleton shell and the current development of a prototype deployable SILVRCLAW.

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Intelligent control of a pair of actuating muscles is synthesized from a biological paradigm of controlling these muscles (agonistic and antagonist) as they work in conjunction to provide actuation to a system (exoskeleton for a human). An investigation of muscle dynamics in humans and other animals is first conducted. Using the analogies from living muscle action, a paradigm is described on how to control such a system from an energy perspective subject to the biological constraints induced via the muscle dynamics. A discussion on the use of pneumatic muscle technology to power an exoskeleton suit is then presented

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For stroke survivors, or those with debilitating conditions, loss of autonomy and independence is a major issue. To help with this problem, a device is being designed that aids the movements of the wrist and hand. The device will measure the surface EMG readings from the forearm, and accurately interpret these readings to determine the intention of the device wearer. An exoskeleton, extending from before the wrist to the finger tips, will subsequently move in a manner that assists the wearer during the action — for example turning on or off a water tap. It is envisaged that the device will be capable of assisting in rehabilitative exercises with the ultimate goal being to make the wearer independent of the device, rendering it redundant. There are several aspects to this currently under investigation. Results are presented here outlining initial investigations into the design of the exoskeleton, the system to drive the exoskeleton, and the system to measure the surface EMG readings.

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Lower extremity exoskeleton intelligent carrying system is a new concept human-machine intelligent robot system. To provide a virtual experiment platform for the system, virtual prototyping technique is used to build up a human-machine carrying exoskeleton system, which is benefit to study the kinematics and dynamics characteristics, speed up the development of prototype. The dynamic model of exoskeleton for the integral movement is established, and the virtual joint nonlinear adaptive torque control is provided to complete the walking experiment. Simulation results show the validity of this the virtual platform and the control method.

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Haptics is the discipline that deals with the study of the complex sense of touch as an interface between human beings and machines. Haptic technology has been proven applicable and practical in many fields, including scientific visualization, medical training, authentication and other areas such as education and arts. This research investigates the usage of haptics as a mechanism to extract users’ behaviors and to build a biometric system for authentication. We captured human behavior while users were interacting with two haptic devices: the Desktop PHANToM device (single-point interaction) and the CyberForce system (hand exoskeleton device). Experimental results, based on a set of haptic-based applications, show that single-point interaction haptic devices are suitable for authentication purposes. On the other hand, multiple-point haptic devices —hand exoskeleton devices-still seem to be far from being used in a haptic-biometric system. When using hand exoskeleton devices, the extracted features are not a good source of rich information to characterize a biometric identifier system.

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