Wearable robots instrumentation

Sensing pressure at the physical interface between the robot and the human has important implications for wearable robots. On the one hand, monitoring pressure distribution can give valuable benefits on the aspects of comfortability and safety of such devices. Additionally, on the other hand, they can be used as a rich sensory input to high level interaction controllers. However, a problem is that the commercial availability of this technology is mostly limited to either low-cost solutions with poor performance or expensive options, limiting the possibilities for iterative designs. As an alternative, in this manuscript we present a three-dimensional (3D) printed flexible capacitive pressure sensor that allows seamless integration for wearable robotic applications. The sensors are manufactured using additive manufacturing techniques, which provides benefits in terms of versatility of design and implementation. In this study, a characterization of the 3D printed sensors in a test-bench is presented after which the sensors are integrated in an upper arm interface. A human-in-the-loop calibration of the sensors is then shown, allowing to estimate the external force and pressure distribution that is acting on the upper arm of seven human subjects while performing a dynamic task. The validation of the method is achieved by means of a collaborative robot for precise force interaction measurements. The results indicate that the proposed sensors are a potential solution for further implementation in human–robot interfaces.

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A Novel Actuation Module for Wearable Robots

Advances in Robot Kinematics: Motion in Man and Machine ◽

10.1007/978-90-481-9262-5_13 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 117-125 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M. Bergamasco ◽

F. Salsedo ◽

S. Marcheschi ◽

N. Lucchesi

Keyword(s):

Wearable Robots

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Multiple Inputs-Single Accumulated Output Mechanism for Soft Linear Actuators

Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics ◽

10.1115/1.4041632 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kyeong Ho Cho ◽

Ho Moon Kim ◽

Youngeun Kim ◽

Sang Yul Yang ◽

Hyouk Ryeol Choi

Keyword(s):

Artificial Muscle ◽

Operating Mode ◽

Robotic Arm ◽

Soft Actuator ◽

Wearable Robots ◽

Working Principle ◽

Linear Actuators ◽

Soft Actuators ◽

Muscle Actuators ◽

Further Development

Soft linear actuators (SLAs) such as shape memory alloy (SMA) wires, pneumatic soft actuators, dielectric elastomer actuator, and twisted and coiled soft actuator (TCA) called artificial muscle actuators in general, have many advantages over the conventional actuators. SLAs can realize innovative robotic technologies like soft robots, wearable robots, and bionic arms in the future, but further development is still needed in real applications because most SLAs do not provide large displacement or force as needed. This paper presents a novel mechanism supplementing SLAs by accumulating the displacement of multiple SLAs. It adopts the principle of differential gears in reverse. Since the input units of the mechanism are extensible, more displacement can be accumulated by increasing the number of the input units as many as needed. The mechanism is basically used to accumulate displacements, but can be used to accumulate forces by changing its operating mode. This paper introduces the design and working principle of the mechanism and validates its operation experimentally. In addition, the mechanism is implemented on a robotic arm and its effectiveness is confirmed.

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