This document discloses, among other things, a wearable structure having links and joints corresponding to those of a human upper body. Transducers are located on the wearable structure and are coupled to a processor. The transducers exchange energy and information between the user and the wearable structure and enable control of the movement of the structure.

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The subject of the invention concerns an exoskeletal system with: an exoskeletal weight-bearing structure composed of a reference structure and at least one mechanical segment, resources for acquiring movements and movement intentions, composed of resources for time related measurement of the effort coming from at least one biological segment and time-dependent resources for detecting the direction of the movements or movement intentions of these segments, resources for acquiring the spatial position of the mechanical segments in relation to the reference structure, operating resources providing the motor-power for the articulated mechanical segments, and control resources connected at their inputs to the movement and position acquisition resources, and at their outputs to the operating resources in order to control them.

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The present invention relates to an exoskeleton interface apparatus that parallels human arm motion and is comprised of a serial assemblage of five powered linkages and joints based at a rigid support structure worn on the torso of the human subject. Such apparatus generates shoulder rotation using three orthogonal revolute joints mounted on serial linkages encompassing and intersecting at the anatomical glenohumeral joint. Elevation of the shoulder joint is articulated using a link member driven by a single revolute joint mounted in the torso structure. Passive adjustable linkages are used to match variation in anatomical forearm length, upper arm length, and scapula-to-glenohumeral radius. A plurality of integrated dc motor/harmonic drive transmission modules is co-located on adjoining linkages to power the joints. Force is exchanged with the human at the handgrip and elbow brace, and reacted to the torso structure via the base attachment. The present invention is applicable in particular to rehabilitation of the shoulder.

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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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A high-power electrostatic actuator comprising rotor and stator layers with fault-tolerant electrode structures, a housing to contain the electrodes and dielectric fluid, and electronic circuitry driving a plurality of high-voltage phases. The actuator is constructed from multiple rotor and stator films separated by spacing elements. The electrode structure provides self-alignment for precise assembly. The actuator assembly includes built-in fine-position sensors to allow optimal timing in powering phases, and a coarse position sensor for feedback control. The electrode structure has a large region of linear force to provide low torque-ripple allowing simple high/low voltage pulsing instead of analog high voltage waveforms. Single or double sided flexible circuit manufacturing techniques are used to fabricate the rotor and stator films at low cost.

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