Download or read book Finger Exoskeleton towards an EVA Exoskeleton Hand written by Chen Chen Fai and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Design and Realization of a Finger Exoskeleton for Astronauts Extravehicular Activity EVA Glove written by Mohamad Mehdi Seyed Mousavi and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Innovative Hand Exoskeleton Design for Extravehicular Activities in Space written by Pierluigi Freni and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-06-23 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental conditions and pressurized spacesuits expose astronauts to problems of fatigue during lengthy extravehicular activities, with adverse impacts especially on the dexterity, force and endurance of the hands and arms. A state-of-the-art exploration in the field of hand exoskeletons revealed that available products are unsuitable for space applications because of their bulkiness and mass. This book proposes a novel approach to the development of hand exoskeletons, based on an innovative soft robotics concept that relies on the exploitation of electroactive polymers operating as sensors and actuators, on a combination of electromyography and mechanomyography for detection of the user’s will and on neural networks for control. The result is a design that should enhance astronauts’ performance during extravehicular activities. In summary, the advantages of the described approach are a low-weight, high-flexibility exoskeleton that allows for dexterity and compliance with the user’s will.

Download or read book Development and Testing of Hand Exoskeletons written by Matteo Bianchi and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-02-05 with total page 107 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book describes the development of portable, wearable, and highly customizable hand exoskeletons to aid patients suffering from hand disabilities. It presents an original approach for the design of human hand motion assistance devices that relies on (i) an optimization-based kinematic scaling procedure, which guarantees a significant adaptability to the user’s hands motion, and (ii) a topology optimization-based design methodology, which allowed the design of a lightweight, comfortable device with a high level of performance. The book covers the whole process of hand exoskeleton development, from establishing a new design strategy, to the construction and testing of hand exoskeleton prototypes, using additive manufacturing techniques. As such, it offers timely information to both researchers and engineers developing human motion assistance systems, especially wearable ones.

Download or read book DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF LOW COST HAND FINGER EXOSKELETON FOR REHABILITATION OF STROKE PATIENT written by WALEED RAUF (TP024225) and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Wearable Robotics written by Jacob Rosen and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2019-11-16 with total page 551 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wearable Robotics: Systems and Applications provides a comprehensive overview of the entire field of wearable robotics, including active orthotics (exoskeleton) and active prosthetics for the upper and lower limb and full body. In its two major sections, wearable robotics systems are described from both engineering perspectives and their application in medicine and industry. Systems and applications at various levels of the development cycle are presented, including those that are still under active research and development, systems that are under preliminary or full clinical trials, and those in commercialized products. This book is a great resource for anyone working in this field, including researchers, industry professionals and those who want to use it as a teaching mechanism. Provides a comprehensive overview of the entire field, with both engineering and medical perspectives Helps readers quickly and efficiently design and develop wearable robotics for healthcare applications

Download or read book Dual Reconfigurable Exoskeleton Hand System with Opposable Thumbs written by Peter Walker Ferguson and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between a global pandemic, aging population, and labor shortages, there is an ongoing spike in the demand for healthcare that cannot be satisfied with traditional methods and the human workforce. Robotic technology offers a solution to this dilemma; applying robotics to healthcare is an active area of research that has begun to be widely commercialized. Whilethere are many potential avenues for robots to improve health and well-being, my research has focused on two areas in particular: the development of robotic hand exoskeletons for rehabilitation and the enhancement of robotic surgery via automation and sensor development. Exoskeletons have been shown to be effective for use in physical rehabilitation of numerous conditions including spinal cord injury and stroke. However, at present, the huge majority of exoskeleton systems are constructed for only the arm (from shoulder to wrist), back, lower limbs, or hands. Few systems have been developed that combine both full arm and hand systems, and those that do generally have limited actuation of the hand. This is partly because the mechanical complexity of the hand requires rigid hand exoskeletons to be complex and bulky if they are able to control many of the important degrees of freedom. This bulk and complexity makes the hand systems challenging to successfully integrate onto the distal end of an arm exoskeleton. However, there is significant demand for combined arm and hand rehabilitation exoskeletons because many activities of daily living, that physical therapy focuses on retraining, require reaching and grasping together. The overarching goals of this research are to develop a novel hand exoskeleton, experimentally evaluate its capabilities in preparation for application to stroke rehabilitation, and integrate it on the existing EXO-UL8 and concurrently developed BLUE SABINO upper limb exoskeleton systems. Chapter 1 provides an introduction on hand exoskeleton systems, with a focus on those designed for rehabilitation. My work on hand exoskeletons started by inheriting a hand exoskeleton mechanical design from Brando Dimapasoc, a graduating Master's Degree student, that was developed as part of NSF Award #1532239. The system was intended to be attached to the EXO-UL8 and BLUE SABINO arm exoskeletons, had six active and six passive degrees of freedom, had three reconfigurable linkages to control the thumb and two groupings of fingers, used a bowden cable transmission system to enable remote placement of actuators, and was optimized to fit 90% of the general population. However, the design had only been tested as a 3D-printed prototype in a modified and simplified form. Further, the necessary electronic hardware (other than motor and sensor selection) and control software had not been started. Thus, the first stage of my research was to bring this first-generation hand exoskeleton to a functional state. This involved the mechanical assembly, the electrical design and assembly, and the software and control development of the system. Through testing, it was determined that a significant number of improvements must be made to the system in order for it to be suitable for use. Details of this work are contained in Chapter 2. With the lessons learned from development and testing of the first-generation hand exoskeleton, the next stage of my research involved the nearly complete redesign of the system in order to create the second-generation hand exoskeleton named the "Opposable-Thumb Hand Exoskeleton for Rehabilitation" or "OTHER Hand". As the name implies, the system is designed to control opposition/reposition of the thumb in addition to the flexion/extension of each digit. This is a notable feature, not only because of the importance of opposition/reposition in many grasping tasks, but also because only a handful of exoskeletons in the literature control this motion. The OTHER Hand shares a number of features with the first generation system, though the execution of each is different. It attaches to both the EXO-UL8 and BLUE SABINO arm exoskeletons, is actuated using a Bowden Cable transmission such that the motor pack can be located remotely, has three reconfigurable linkages to control the thumb and two groupings of fingers in order to enable nearly all grasps, and is optimized to fit 90% of the population. The system has six active and eight passive degrees of freedom per hand. Chapter 3 documents the design of the OTHER Hand. Due to the numerous novel design choices made for the OTHER Hand, combined with the mechanical complexity of the hand in general, and thumb in particular, it is not feasible to know with certainty the types of grasps that can be actuated in the exoskeleton for the wide range of hand shapes and sizes. As such, it is necessary to validate the design of the OTHER Hand through testing with a group of subjects. This was accomplished through adaptation of the Anthropomorphic Hand Assessment Protocol for use with an exoskeleton to test the ability of thirteen subjects to grasp and manipulate 25 objects of the Yale-Carnegie Mellon-Berkeley Object Set using eight prehensile grasps and two non-prehensile hand postures. Additionally, the OTHER Hand was mounted on the EXO-UL8, and both systems were manually controlled to verify compatibility, workspace, and ability to bi-manually grasp a sample object. Chapter 4 presents the testing protocol and results. While exoskeletons for rehabilitation is an increasingly popular research area, robotic surgical platforms already have widespread commercial use and profound effects on clinical outcomes. Classically, these systems are controlled directly by a surgeon at a console in the same or adjacent room. They can augment the senses and movement precision of the surgeon during open or laparoscopic surgery in order to enhance the surgeon's skills. However, surgeons commonly work exceptionally long hours in an environment where a single mistake can be fatal. Additionally, certain surgical subtasks are time-consuming, repetitive, and common to many different operations. Automating these subtasks has the potential to reduce the burden on surgeons while standardizing outcomes. Automation of one such subtask, soft tissue manipulation, is described in Chapter 5. Cataract surgery ranks among the most common operating room procedures worldwide. The aim of the surgery is to replace the clouded biological lens with a clear synthetic lens. Despite the prevalence, this operation is currently performed manually by a surgeon, and generally is fast, standardized, and safe. However, the human body is notably non-optimal for performing cataract surgery due to the transparency and fragility of the tissues of the eye. In order to remove the lens, it is standard to break it apart with phacoemulsification, use an irrigation/aspiration handpiece to aspirate the lens material, and then polish any remaining lens material from the capsular bag. Unfortunately, the back of this bag, the posterior capsule, is transparent, mere microns thin, and easily ruptured from contact, ultrasound energy, or pressure. Rupturing the posterior capsule causes the vitreous of the inner eye to spill out, resulting in critical failure of the surgery. Additional information about the location of the tool tip within the eye could be used to reduce the risk of such a failure. To this end, a proof-of-concept modification of a tool to add bioelectrical impedance sensing and tissue classification was developed and tested on porcine eyes. This research is summarized in Chapter 6

Download or read book A Five fingered Hand Exoskeleton for Rehabilitation and Assistive Applications written by Wisnu Arya Surendra and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The aim of the thesis is to develop a portable and wearable five-fingered hand exoskeleton that post-stroke patients can use to rehabilitate the hand functions back to normal levels and also assist them in their daily living. With the demographics of many developed countries expected to change dramatically, many are becoming older and the associated diseases are bound to increase. Stroke is one such disease that will likely to impair the upper limb functions on many of the elderlies. Automation of therapies on post-stroke patients is a way to improve the recovery rate and enhance the quality of lives on these patients without having to costly train more therapists. The five-fingered hand exoskeleton is bio-inspired in a sense that it tries to mimic normal human finger functions by using air muscles as the main actuator and tendon like cables to transfer the pull power. The mechanical design can be divided into 3 major groups: finger module assemblies, dorsal plate assembly and actuator housing assembly. With portability and wearability as the main goals, light materials such ABS plastics, PLA plastics and aluminium were utilised to construct the hand exoskeleton. In this prototype, two control functions are implemented, as a rehabilitative device the exoskeleton perform certain exercise movements to mimic the function of a therapist and as an assistive device the exoskeleton can assist the user in grasping everyday's object such as coffee cups. When rehabilitative mode is selected, position sensor in a form rubber strip coated with polypyrrole feedbacks voltage signals which then translated into the controlled variable of joint angles. As an assistive device, 4 Flexiforce® sensors are used to detect grip intensity of the exoskeleton which can hold cylindrical objects. To control the finger movements, PID controllers embedded within LabVIEW were utilised and the user interacts via the Graphical User Interface (GUI) on the computer. To connect the software (LabVIEW) with the hand exoskeleton, hardware in the form of data acquisition devices, pneumatic solenoid valves and electronic interface circuitries were implemented. On average the exoskeleton is able to replicate 81% of normal human Range of Motion (ROM). As a rehabilitative device, the controllers were tuned in such a way that the controlled joint angles will always be below the set joint angles so no injuries from over-actuations can occur. As an assistive device, the exoskeleton can provide assistive force to lift coffee cups up to a weight of 413 g. This work has shown the possibility of using bio-mechatronics device as a way to rehabilitate post-stroke patients during their recovery and assist them during their daily living.

Download or read book An Unpowered Exoskeleton to Reduce Astronaut Hand Fatigue During Microgravity EVA written by Alan John Carey and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Astronaut hand fatigue during Extravehicular Activity (EVA) and EVA training is a critical risk in human space exploration. Improved glove designs over the past forty years have reduced hand fatigue, but limitations of the technology prevent major improvements to reduce hand fatigue. Therefore, a mechanism to assist astronauts by reducing hand fatigue was explored. Many organizations have already developed exoskeletons to assist astronauts, but all mechanisms developed required electrically powered actuators and control systems to enhance grip strength. However, astronauts already possess the strength required to actuate the glove; what is needed is a method to reduce fatigue without introducing electromechanical complexity. A passive mechanical system was developed as a proof-of-concept to test the feasibility of an unpowered exoskeleton to maintain static grip around an object. The semi- rigid nature of an inflated pressure glove provided an ideal substrate to mount a mechanism and associated components to allow an astronaut to release his/her grip inside the glove while maintaining attitude, as the mechanism will keep the glove closed around an object.Three prototypes were fabricated and tested to evaluate the architecture. The final two prototypes were tested on a real pressure suit glove at Final Frontier Design (FFD), and the third mechanism demonstrated attachment and basic operating principles. At University of California (UC) Davis, pressure glove analogs were fabricated from a baseball batting glove and polystyrene to simulate a real pressure glove without the risk of testing in a reduced pressure environment (i.e. a glove box). Testing of the third prototype showed a reduction in fatigue as measured by Maximum Voluntary Contraction (MVC) grip force over a 30 second period when the mechanism assisted gripping an object.

Download or read book Fingertip Position and Force Control for Dexterous Manipulation Through Accurate Modeling of Hand exoskeleton environment written by Paria Esmatloo and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite mechanical advancements in the design of hand exoskeleton devices to help people with hand disabilities regain partial hand function, their manipulation performance has remained far inferior compared to the human hand. State-of-the-art control strategies implemented on exoskeletons are mainly focused on robot joint-level position control, although accurate control of fingertip positions and forces is a requirement for reaching human-like dexterity and manipulation. The relationships between inputs (motor commands) and outputs (fingertip positions and forces) are highly nonlinear due to the inherent limitations in actuation structure of multiple degree of freedom (DOF) exoskeletons. Moreover, the simplified coupled models of finger joint movements do not hold when humans interact with external objects and exert forces at their fingertips. Therefore achieving dexterous manipulation will require accurate models of interaction between the fingers, hand exoskeleton system, and fingertip environment. In this thesis we accomplish, for the first time, fingertip position and force control with an assistive multi-DOF hand exoskeleton through accurate modeling of the hand-exoskeleton-environment. First, we provide kinematic and kinetic models for the human fingers, robot structure, and the Bowden cable power transmission for a fully actuated hand exoskeleton design. Next, we validate the models in simulation and demonstrate the successful control of fingertip position and forces in everyday drawing tasks. Finally, we utilize an experimental setup with a finger exoskeleton unit with two actuated DOF attached to an instrumented testbed finger to demonstrate successful tracking of fingertip position and forces within human accuracy levels through model-based control

Download or read book sEMG based Control Strategy for a Hand Exoskeleton System written by Nicola Secciani and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-11-22 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reports on the design and testing of an sEMG-based control strategy for a fully-wearable low-cost hand exoskeleton. It describes in detail the modifications carried out to the electronics of a previous prototype, covering in turn the implementation of an innovative sEMG classifier for predicting the wearer's motor intention and driving the exoskeleton accordingly. While similar classifier have been widely used for motor intention prediction, their application to wearable device control has been neglected so far. Thus, this book fills a gap in the literature providing readers with extensive information and a source of inspiration for the future design and control of medical and assistive devices.

Download or read book Human Performance Technology Concepts Methodologies Tools and Applications written by Management Association, Information Resources and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2019-05-03 with total page 1946 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Business practices are rapidly changing due to technological advances in the workplace. Organizations are challenged to implement new programs for more efficient business while maintaining their standards of excellence and achievement. Human Performance Technology: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source for the latest research findings on real-world applications of digital tools for human performance enhancement across a variety of settings. This publication also examines the utilization of problem-based instructional techniques for challenges and solutions encountered by industry professionals. Highlighting a range of topics such as performance support systems, workplace curricula, and instructional technology, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for business executives and managers, business professionals, human resources managers, academicians, and researchers actively involved in the business industry.

Download or read book Towards a Mobile Self contained Hand Exoskeleton Using Shape Memory Alloy Actuators written by Justin Forbes Thode and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Additions and Improvements to the Mechanical Design of the FINGER Exoskeleton written by Marshall O. Townsend and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rehabilitation robots are important tools for post stroke movement training and efficacy quantification. The Finger INdividuating Grasp and Exercise Robot (FINGER) is a robotic exoskeleton designed to administer and study finger movement training. Developed nearly a decade ago and used for numerous investigative studies, the FINGER exoskeleton is currently in the process of being updated. This thesis covers design improvements to the FINGER 8-bar mechanisms, development of novel finger cuffs, and initial solid-model design prototyping of a spherical 5-bar mechanism for thumb training. The 8-bar mechanisms that FINGER uses to actuate the index and middle fingers were redesigned with thicker links to increase rigidity and to reduce high stress concentrations. The joints of the mechanism were modified to use larger bearings with an extended inner race, allowing them to be easily spaced without the need for shims. The mechanism was also modified to extend an additional fifteen degrees to allow the user to fully open their index and middle fingers. Feedback from patients and clinicians about the fit and function of FINGER has been used to redesign the finger cuffs to be more comfortable, and to be easier to don and doff. This was achieved by adding BOA℗ʼ ratchet dials which use braided metal cables that size the cuffs; the cables loop over a hook on the opposite side. The cable is covered by a leather strap which increases comfort, keeps the cable properly aligned, and prevents direct contact between the cable and the skin. Thumb trajectory information, recorded using a marker-based motion capture system, was used for the kinematic design of a spherical 5-bar mechanism. This mechanism will be actuated by the same linear actuators as FINGER, which are fixed to a platform on which FINGER is secured. A proposed design, including the location of these actuators, is presented. The thumb is connected to the mechanism through a cuff with a BOA℗ʼ dial and a leather strap, similar to the finger cuffs. The thumb cuff rotates freely so the thumb can assume a comfortable orientation.

Download or read book Research Anthology on Rehabilitation Practices and Therapy written by Management Association, Information Resources and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2020-08-21 with total page 1973 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The availability of practical applications, techniques, and case studies by international therapists is limited despite expansions to the fields of clinical psychology, rehabilitation, and counseling. As dialogues surrounding mental health grow, it is important to maintain therapeutic modalities that ensure the highest level of patient-centered rehabilitation and care are met across global networks. Research Anthology on Rehabilitation Practices and Therapy is a vital reference source that examines the latest scholarly material on trends and techniques in counseling and therapy and provides innovative insights into contemporary and future issues within the field. Highlighting a range of topics such as psychotherapy, anger management, and psychodynamics, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for mental health professionals, counselors, therapists, clinical psychologists, sociologists, social workers, researchers, students, and social science academicians seeking coverage on significant advances in rehabilitation and therapy.

Download or read book A Hand Exoskeleton with Series Elastic Actuation for Rehabilitation written by Priyanshu Agarwal and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rehabilitation of the hands is critical for restoring independence in activities of daily living for individuals with upper extremity disabilities. Conventional therapies for hand rehabilitation have not shown significant improvement in hand function. Robotic exoskeletons have been developed to assist in therapy and there is initial evidence that such devices with force-control based strategies can help in effective rehabilitation of human limbs. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of the existing hand exoskeletons allow for accurate force or torque control. In this dissertation, we design and prototype a novel hand exoskeleton that has the following unique features: (i) Bowden-cable-based series elastic actuation allowing for bidirectional torque control of each joint individually, (ii) an underlying kinematic mechanism that is optimized to achieve large range of motion and (iii) a thumb module that allows for independent actuation of the four thumb joints. To control the developed hand exoskeleton for efficacious rehabilitation after a neuromuscular impairment such as stroke, we present two types of subject-specific assist-as-needed controllers. Learned force-field control is a novel control technique in which a neural-network-based model of the required torques given the joint angles for a specific subject is learned and then used to build a force-field to assist the joint motion of the subject to follow a trajectory designed in the joint-angle space. Adaptive assist-as-needed control, on the other hand, estimates the coupled digit-exoskeleton system torque requirement of a subject using radial basis function (RBF) and on-the-y adapts the RBF magnitudes to provide a feed-forward assistance for improved trajectory tracking. Experiments with healthy human subjects showed that each controller has its own trade-offs and is suitable for a specific type of impairment. Finally, to promote and optimize motor (re)-learning, we present a framework for robot-assisted motor (re)-learning that provides subject-specific training by allowing for simultaneous adaptation of task, assistance and feedback based on the performance of the subject on the task. To train the subjects for dexterous manipulation, we present a torque-based task that requires subjects to dynamically regulate their joint torques. A pilot study carried out with healthy human subjects using the developed hand exoskeleton suggests that training under simultaneous adaptation of task, assistance and feedback can module challenge and affect their motor learning.

Download or read book Design and Development of a Portable Five fingered Hand Rehabilitation Exoskeleton written by Harish Devaraj and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The aim of this thesis is to present a low cost, lightweight and portable five-fingered hand exoskeleton in order to help post-stroke patients regain and improve their somatic motor functions. Human hands are the most dexterous and the most versatile part of the human body. The complexity of the hand anatomical structure as well as its wide range of Degrees of Freedom (DOF) capabilities makes the development of a rehabilitation hand exoskeleton highly demanding and challenging. The proposed five-fingered hand exoskeleton integrates three major modules: finger modules, dorsal plate module and actuator housing. The finger modules, stereo-lithographed from epoxy resin and laser cut from aluminum sheets, are assembled on to the dorsal plate module laser cut from Perspex, thereby placing a robust yet lightweight system over the patient's hand. The movements of these finger modules are achieved by implementing pneumatic artificial muscles (air muscles) with antagonist springs to keep each air muscle in extended state. These air muscles are mounted on an aluminum actuator housing designed to be worn around the forearm. A pair of air muscles controls each of the finger modules with the exception of the thumb module which is actuated by a linear actuator and air muscle simultaneously. When actuated, the linear pull of the air muscles is translated to flexion of the finger modules by means of braided dial cords analogous to the tendon muscles. Elastomers present in the upper surface of the finger modules cause finger extension and at the same time maintains the tendon cable tension with minimal impact on actuator performance. The interphalangeal joints are coupled together and are actuated simultaneously by a single air muscle while the second air muscle actuates the metacarpophalangeal joint. Integrated with the air musclespring assembly, a novel polypyrrole based strain sensor provides feedback on the orientation of the finger modules. The user interacts with the hand exoskeleton via a LabVIEW based Graphical User Interface (GUI). A PID controller embedded within the LabVIEW program controls the rate of finger module movements. The hardware linking the LabVIEW GUI with the exoskeleton system includes data acquisition device, electronic interface circuitry and a set of electro-pneumatic pressure regulating valves. The prototype's effectiveness testing covered joint motion analysis, positional capabilities, range of motion measurements and other factors that validate the usage of exoskeleton as a safe and reliable rehabilitation device. With an effectiveness of up to 81%, this work validates the prototype as a possible rehabilitation device.