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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It is the goal of this paper to present performance differences between a Direct Drive master actuator (DD) and a Bowden Cable relocated master actuator (BCD) in a typical force-feedback tele-manipulation experiment with a virtual slave. The BCD actuator is a candidate actuator for implementation in a wearable exoskeleton, in order to reduce mass and inertia on each joint of the movable structure. The BCD performance matches the one of the DD in terms of torque and position tracking in a 4 channel control. The maximum rendered contact stiffness is suitable for implementation in the ESA human arm exoskeleton, with a maximum of about 36 Nm/rad. When, instead of the DD, a relocated BCD actuator is implemented in an exoskeletons movable structure, the mechanical output power-density can be increased by more than 5 fold up to 31 mNm/cm³, with comparable performance. The specific power is then increased by more than 6 fold, to 13 Nm/kg. The Bowden Cable transmission wrapping angle alters the free movement friction only marginally by about 50 mNm only. The tracking performances are hardly affected and the contact stiffness increases with increasing wrapping angle. Transmission wrapping angles of up to 270 Deg. are tested.

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