Conceptual design and virtual prototyping of a wearable upper limb exoskeleton for assisted operations

International Journal on Interactive Design and Manufacturing (IJIDeM) ◽

10.1007/s12008-021-00779-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Pietro Bilancia ◽

Giovanni Berselli

Keyword(s):

Upper Limb ◽

Mechanical Design ◽

Virtual Prototyping ◽

Neuromuscular Diseases ◽

Preliminary Review ◽

Functional Requirements ◽

Upper Limb Exoskeleton ◽

Repetitive Tasks ◽

Wide Range ◽

Numerical Approaches

AbstractThis paper introduces a novel upper limb robotic exoskeleton designed to assist industrial operators in a wide range of manual repetitive tasks, such as tool handling and lifting/moving of heavy items. Due to its reduced size and high maneuverability, the proposed portable device may also be employed for rehabilitation purposes (e.g. as an aid for people with permanent neuromuscular diseases or post-stroke patients). Its primary function is to compensate the gravity loads acting on the human shoulder by means of a hybrid system consisting of four electric motors and three passive springs. The paper focuses on the exoskeleton mechanical design and virtual prototyping. After a preliminary review of the existent architectures and procedures aimed at defining the exoskeleton functional requirements, a detailed behavioral analysis is conducted using analytical and numerical approaches. The developed interactive model allows to simulate both kinematics and statics of the exoskeleton for every possible movement within the design workspace. To validate the model, the results have been compared with the ones achieved with a commercial multibody software for three different operator’s movements.

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A 4-DOF Upper Limb Exoskeleton for Physical Assistance: Design, Modeling, Control and Performance Evaluation

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11135865 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (13) ◽

pp. 5865

Author(s):

Muhammad Ahsan Gull ◽

Mikkel Thoegersen ◽

Stefan Hein Bengtson ◽

Mostafa Mohammadi ◽

Lotte N. S. Andreasen Struijk ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Upper Limb ◽

Tracking Control ◽

Degrees Of Freedom ◽

Control Method ◽

Mechanical Design ◽

Trajectory Tracking Control ◽

Upper Limb Exoskeleton ◽

And Performance ◽

Physically Disabled People ◽

Human Upper Limb

Wheelchair mounted upper limb exoskeletons offer an alternative way to support disabled individuals in their activities of daily living (ADL). Key challenges in exoskeleton technology include innovative mechanical design and implementation of a control method that can assure a safe and comfortable interaction between the human upper limb and exoskeleton. In this article, we present a mechanical design of a four degrees of freedom (DOF) wheelchair mounted upper limb exoskeleton. The design takes advantage of non-backdrivable mechanism that can hold the output position without energy consumption and provide assistance to the completely paralyzed users. Moreover, a PD-based trajectory tracking control is implemented to enhance the performance of human exoskeleton system for two different tasks. Preliminary results are provided to show the effectiveness and reliability of using the proposed design for physically disabled people.

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Mechanical design for a cable driven upper limb exoskeleton prototype actuated by pneumatic rubber muscles

2017 International Conference on Research and Education in Mechatronics (REM) ◽

10.1109/rem.2017.8075232 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sarah Ghobj ◽

Amal Akl ◽

Amr El-Farr ◽

Mohammad Ayyash ◽

Jumana Abu-Khalaf

Keyword(s):

Upper Limb ◽

Mechanical Design ◽

Upper Limb Exoskeleton

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Exoskeleton Technology in Rehabilitation: Towards an EMG-Based Orthosis System for Upper Limb Neuromotor Rehabilitation

Journal of Robotics ◽

10.1155/2013/610589 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2013 ◽

pp. 1-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Luis Manuel Vaca Benitez ◽

Marc Tabie ◽

Niels Will ◽

Steffen Schmidt ◽

Mathias Jordan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Upper Limb ◽

Cooperative Control ◽

Mechanical Design ◽

Control Strategies ◽

Neuromuscular Diseases ◽

Sensor Data ◽

Daily Life Activities ◽

Control Scheme ◽

Assistive Systems ◽

And Control

The rehabilitation of patients should not only be limited to the first phases during intense hospital care but also support and therapy should be guaranteed in later stages, especially during daily life activities if the patient’s state requires this. However, aid should only be given to the patient if needed and as much as it is required. To allow this, automatic self-initiated movement support and patient-cooperative control strategies have to be developed and integrated into assistive systems. In this work, we first give an overview of different kinds of neuromuscular diseases, review different forms of therapy, and explain possible fields of rehabilitation and benefits of robotic aided rehabilitation. Next, the mechanical design and control scheme of an upper limb orthosis for rehabilitation are presented. Two control models for the orthosis are explained which compute the triggering function and the level of assistance provided by the device. As input to the model fused sensor data from the orthosis and physiology data in terms of electromyography (EMG) signals are used.

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Iterative learning sliding mode control for output-constrained upper-limb exoskeleton with non-repetitive tasks.

Applied Mathematical Modelling ◽

10.1016/j.apm.2021.03.049 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gaowei Zhang ◽

Jie Wang ◽

Peng Yang ◽

Shijie Guo

Keyword(s):

Sliding Mode Control ◽

Upper Limb ◽

Sliding Mode ◽

Iterative Learning ◽

Mode Control ◽

Upper Limb Exoskeleton ◽

Repetitive Tasks

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Bioinspired mechanical design of an upper limb exoskeleton for rehabilitation and motor control assessment

2012 4th IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob) ◽

10.1109/biorob.2012.6290811 ◽

2012 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Andrey Bugarin W. Miranda ◽

Andre Yuji Yasutomi ◽

Camila Souit ◽

Arturo Forner-Cordero

Keyword(s):

Motor Control ◽

Upper Limb ◽

Mechanical Design ◽

Upper Limb Exoskeleton

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The Control Concept for Upper Limb Exoskeleton

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1101439/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Bianca Lento ◽

Yannick Aoustin ◽

Teresa Zielinska

Keyword(s):

Control System ◽

Upper Limb ◽

Neuromuscular Diseases ◽

Structure Design ◽

Upper Limbs ◽

Feedback Information ◽

Movement Trajectories ◽

Upper Limb Exoskeleton ◽

Control Concept ◽

External Covering

Abstract Robotic exoskeletons inspired by the animal’s external covering are wearable systems that enhance human power, motor skills, or support the movement. The main difficulty, apart from the mechanical structure design, is the development of an exoskeleton control system, as it should recognize the movement intended by the user and assist in its execution. This work is devoted to the exoskeleton of the upper limbs that supports movement. The method of controlling the exoskeleton by means of electromyograms (EMG) was presented. EMG is a technique for recording and assessing the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. The main advantage of EMG based control is the ability to forecast intended motion, even if the user is unable to generate it. This work aims to define strategies for controlling the exoskeleton of the upper limb in children suffering from neuromuscular diseases. Such diseases gradually reduce the mobility of the lower and upper limbs. These children are wheelchair bound, so it was assumed that the upper limb exoskeleton could be attached to a wheelchair. EMG signals are recorded, amplified and filtered. An artificial neural network using fuzzy logic to process EMG was used. This network predicts movement trajectories. Using this forecast and taking into account the feedback information, the control system generates the appropriate drive torques.

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Bio-Inspired Conceptual Mechanical Design and Control of a New Human Upper Limb Exoskeleton

Robotics ◽

10.3390/robotics10040123 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 123

Author(s):

Narek Zakaryan ◽

Mikayel Harutyunyan ◽

Yuri Sargsyan

Keyword(s):

Upper Limb ◽

Mechanical Design ◽

Artificial Muscle ◽

Design Parameters ◽

Upper Limb Exoskeleton ◽

System A ◽

Rehabilitation Robots ◽

Point Control ◽

And Control ◽

Human Upper Limb

Safe operation, energy efficiency, versatility and kinematic compatibility are the most important aspects in the design of rehabilitation exoskeletons. This paper focuses on the conceptual bio-inspired mechanical design and equilibrium point control (EP) of a new human upper limb exoskeleton. Considering the upper limb as a multi-muscle redundant system, a similar over-actuated but cable-driven mechatronic system is developed to imitate upper limb motor functions. Additional torque adjusting systems at the joints allow users to lift light weights necessary for activities of daily living (ADL) without increasing electric motor powers of the device. A theoretical model of the “ideal” artificial muscle exoskeleton is also developed using Hill’s natural muscle model. Optimal design parameters of the exoskeleton are defined using the differential evolution (DE) method as a technique of a multi-objective optimization. The proposed cable-driven exoskeleton was then fabricated and tested on a healthy subject. Results showed that the proposed system fulfils the desired aim properly, so that it can be utilized in the design of rehabilitation robots. Further studies may include a spatial mechanism design, which is especially important for the shoulder rehabilitation, and development of reinforcement learning control algorithms to provide more efficient rehabilitation treatment.

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