Naval Aeronautical Engineering Institute Exoskeleton Suit (NAEIES) is a kind of human-machine robot which combines the human’s intelligence with the powerful energy of mechanism. It can help people to carry heavy load, walking on kinds of terrains. A prototype of NAEIES is proposed in this paper. When human walking, his (her) forearm has a similar motion trajectory with knee joint. So the forearm motion is measured by a potentiometer as the control signal of the knee joint. The hip joint motion is realized by a gas spring. This is the simplest method to realize the motion of NAEIES. The principle of the method was illustrate in the paper and for the further study a control techniques based on the feedback of angle acceleration is proposed and simulated with the one-Dof and two-Dof model of NAEIES leg.

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The capability of visualising and touching models of new products or new environments is a key factor in the design to production process. Usually this requires the construction of a physical model of the environment but production of the model can be costly and time consuming. Use of CAD packages can assist with the visualisation process, but proprioceptive and tactile sensations are required to augment this and provide the opportunity to feel the object. This work shows design, construction and testing in a virtual world of a generic 18 DOF proprioceptive input and feedback exoskeleton to monitor the motions of the human arm from sternum/spine to wrist and feedback tactile sensation generated during contact within a virtual world. The design is light, comfortable, and easy to wear for long periods providing an almost complete, unhampered range of input options. The proprioceptive inputs are augmented by tactile feedback of contact pressure (8 sensation points) to the upper and lower arm segments and pressure, texture, slip, edges/ridges/corners and thermal parameters to the hand. The paper shows how the input/feedback exoskeleton can be used to explore CAD designs generated in a commercial package (AutoCad) and imparted directly into a virtual world (WorldToolKit) permitting testing of products/processes before production and thereby improving the design-production process through the enhanced used of concurrent engineering techniques

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This paper presents the design of a direct driven under-actuated portable hand exoskeleton for rehabilitation. The design of the proposed Hand EXOskeleton SYStem (HEXOSYS) was driven by multi-objective optimisation strategy and inspiration from the human hand. The optimisation algorithm resulted in the choice of optimum link lengths of the device. The optimisation criteria are based on dexterity, isotropy and exertion of perpendicular forces on the finger digits. Furthermore, a series of experiments on the human hand using appropriate sensory instrumentation guided the selection of actuators thereby resulting in a rehabilitation device which is compatible with the human hand force capabilities. The provision of force as well as position feedback gives quantitative feedback to the therapist and would imply a more efficient rehabilitation process. The first prototype of the device has been designed and realized.

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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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This paper presents design, implementation and control of a 3RPS-R exoskeleton, specifically built to impose targeted therapeutic exercises to forearm and wrist. Design of the exoskeleton features enhanced ergonomy, enlarged workspace and optimized device performance when compared to previous versions of the device. Passive velocity field control (PVFC) is implemented at the task space of the manipulator to provide assistance to the patients, such that the exoskeleton follows a desired velocity field asymptotically while maintaining passivity with respect to external applied torque inputs. PVFC is augmented with virtual tunnels and resulting control architecture is integrated into a virtual flight simulator with force-feedback. Experimental results are presented indicating the applicability and effectiveness of using PVFC on 3RPS-R exoskeleton to deliver therapeutic movement exercises.

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