Exoskeletons

Low back pain is a leading cause of disability, and there is a tremendous need for nonsurgical, nonpharmaceutical interventions to manage it. Versatile spinal exoskeletons have been proposed as a method of supporting or augmenting the wearer, but experimental data from human subjects are limited, and the effects of such exoskeletons remain poorly understood. We thus present a prototype of a reconfigurable spinal exoskeleton that features easily adjustable resistance and compression at multiple spinal levels, allowing us to study the effect of different exoskeleton configurations on the body. In a pilot evaluation with a single subject, both thoracic and abdominal compression were found to affect trunk angle, low back moment and the electromyogram of the erector spinae, though different exoskeleton configurations had different effects during different tasks. This supports the premise that intelligent mechanical adjustments of a spinal exoskeleton are necessary for optimal support or augmentation of the wearer, though the results need to be examined in a larger, varied sample of subjects.

Stroke can be a source of significant upper extremity dysfunction and affect the quality of life (QoL) in survivors. In this context, novel rehabilitation approaches employing robotic rehabilitation devices combined with brain-machine interfaces can greatly help in expediting functional recovery in these individuals by actively engaging the user during therapy. However, optimal training conditions and parameters for these novel therapeutic systems are still unknown. Here, we present preliminary findings demonstrating successful movement intent detection from scalp electroencephalography (EEG) during robotic rehabilitation using the MAHI Exo-II in an individual with hemiparesis following stroke. These findings have strong clinical implications for the development of closed-loop brain-machine interfaces to robotic rehabilitation systems.

This correspondence presents a prototype of a powered hand exoskeleton that is designed to fit over the gloved hand of an astronaut and offset the stiffness of the pressurized space suit. This will keep the productive time spent in extravehicular activity from being constrained by hand fatigue. The exoskeleton has a three-finger design, the third and fourth fingers being combined to lighten and simplify the assembly. The motions of the hand are monitored by an array of pressure sensors mounted between the exoskeleton and the hand. Controller commands are determined by a state-of-the-art programmable microcontroller using pressure sensor input. These commands are applied to a PWM driven dc motor array which provides the motive power to move the exoskeleton fingers. The resultant motion of the exoskeleton allows the astronaut to perform both precision grasping tasks with the thumb and forefinger, as well as a power grasp with the entire hand.

Trunk exoskeletons are wearable devices that support humans during physically demanding tasks by reducing biomechanical loads on the back. While most trunk exoskeletons are rigid devices, more lightweight soft exoskeletons (exosuits) have recently been developed. One such exosuit is the HeroWear Apex, which achieved promising results in the developers’ own work but has not been independently evaluated. This paper thus presents an evaluation of the Apex with 20 adult participants during multiple brief tasks: standing up from a stool with a symmetric or asymmetric load, lifting a unilateral or bilateral load from the floor to waist level, lifting the same bilateral load with a 90-degree turn to the right, lowering a bilateral load from waist level to floor, and walking while carrying a bilateral load. The tasks were performed in an ABA-style protocol: first with exosuit assistance disengaged, then with it engaged, then disengaged again. Four measurement types were taken: electromyography (of the erector spinae, rectus abdominis, and middle trapezius), trunk kinematics, self-report ratings, and heart rate. The exosuit decreased the erector spinae electromyogram by about 15% during object lifting and lowering tasks; furthermore, participants found the exosuit mildly to moderately helpful. No adverse effects on other muscles or during non-lifting tasks were noted, and a decrease in middle trapezius electromyogram was observed for one task. This confirms that the HeroWear Apex could reduce muscle demand and fatigue. The results may transfer to other exoskeletons with similar design principles, and may inform researchers working with other wearable devices.

In this paper, we present the design, fabrication and evaluation of a soft wearable robotic glove, which can be used with functional Magnetic Resonance imaging (fMRI) during the hand rehabilitation and task specific training. The soft wearable robotic glove, called MR-Glove, consists of two major components: a) a set of soft pneumatic actuators and b) a glove. The soft pneumatic actuators, which are made of silicone elastomers, generate bending motion and actuate finger joints upon pressurization. The device is MR-compatible as it contains no ferromagnetic materials and operates pneumatically. Our results show that the device did not cause artifacts to fMRI images during hand rehabilitation and task-specific exercises. This study demonstrated the possibility of using fMRI and MR-compatible soft wearable robotic device to study brain activities and motor performances during hand rehabilitation, and to unravel the functional effects of rehabilitation robotics on brain stimulation.

Актуальность использования промышленных экзоскелетов для снижения количества профессиональных заболеваний опорно-двигательного аппарата верхней части тела 1 ФГУ «Федеральный исследовательский центр Институт прикладной математики им. М.В. Келдыша» РАН, Миусская пл., 4, Москва, Россия, 125047; 2 ФГБНУ «Научно-исследовательский институт медицины труда имени академика Н.Ф. Измерова», пр-т Буденного, 31, Москва, Россия, 105275; 3 Центр робототехники ПАО «Сбербанк», ул. Вавилова, 23/1, Москва, Россия, 117312 В различных отраслях экономики тяжелый физический труд остается ведущим фактором риска получения травм, развития профессиональных и производственно обусловленных заболеваний, в том числе опорно-двигательного ап-парата. Значительная доля патологий приходится на заболевания скелетно-мышечной системы плечевого пояса, при-водящие к временной утрате трудоспособности, потере рабочего времени и увеличению экономических расходов. Применение промышленных экзоскелетов позволит повысить уровень автоматизации производственных операций и является актуальным в отраслях, где работник-неотъемлемая часть трудового процесса. Внедрение промышленных экзоскелетов позволит снизить тяжесть труда путем оптимального перераспределения нагрузки на различные части опорно-двигательного аппарата. Промышленный экзоскелет представляет собой внешнюю механическую несущую конструкцию, которая прикрепляется к телу человека с помощью манжет и предназначена для ассистирования при вы-полнении производственных движений. Наиболее эффективными для разгрузки мышц верхней части тела работника являются промышленные экзоскелеты, направленные на удержание тяжелого инструмента и поддержание оптималь-ной рабочей позы. Большинство доступных промышленных экзоскелетов, прошедших испытания на предприятиях, являются пассивными, в перспективе необходима разработка легких мобильных активных экзоскелетов с габаритами, оптимальными для рабочего пространства. Актуальным направлением исследований является обоснование и разра-ботка требований к конструкции промышленных экзоскелетов, стандартизированных критериев и методов оценки их безопасности и эффективности защиты работника от воздействия физических перегрузок, являющихся вредным производственным фактором.

In this paper, we present the design of a soft wearable exoskeleton that comprises of a glove embedded with pneumatic actuators of variable stiffness for hand assistive and rehabilitation application. The device is lightweight and easily wearable due to the usage of soft pneumatic actuators. A key feature of the device is the variable stiffness of the actuators at different localities that not only conform to the finger profile during actuation, but also provides customizability for different hand dimensions. The actuators can achieve different bending profiles with variable stiffness implemented at different localities. Therefore, the device is able to perform different hand therapy exercises such as full fist, straight fist, hook fist and table top. The device was characterized in terms of its range of motion and maximum force output. Experiments were conducted to examine the differences between active and passive actuation. The results showed that the device could achieve hand grasping and pinching with acceptable range of motion and force.

In this paper, the development of a legged robot which have needed features for search and rescue operations to access to survivors is aimed. Different walking algorithms are designed for this purpose and tested their performance. Six-legged walking robot is affected by environmental conditions thus encountered conditions are minimized. Additionally, the search team which is exposed to the risk of accidents is reduced and more detailed. The investigation about the possibility of problems such as accident, battery life is largely scaled. Control of robot is provided via communications port on computer. The legged robot inspired by spider is developed with the control mechanism and executes various walking behavior. The effectiveness of the robot is measured according to the performance on rough terrain through six legs. Functional algorithms are built for flexible motion against different conditions such as rough terrain, pit. In the same time, the algorithms moving at various speeds related to structure of legs are presented. The robot used in the project is called as TKSPIDER1 which has three servo motors in each leg.

This paper discusses the emergency of retweets networks motivated by live TV transmissions. Based in Actor-Network Theory, the paper considers networks as result of assemblages and agencies that must be analysed in a temporal way, in opposition to a structuralist approach. It's also discussed how the debates on Twitter reconfigures previous sociotechnical controversies as well as how the mediatization of these controversies alters the methods used to study them. The case study is based in a dataset of 25.115 retweets collected in Twitter about the demonstration of an exoskeleton during 2014 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony. Two methodological approaches are proposed to analyse the subject of the debates and to show in a video and graphs how the RTs networks changed during the transmission.

The illaenid trilobite Vysocania is widely represented in the Upper Ordovician of the Czech Republic, Portugal and Spain, and is one of the most characteristic taxa in the high-latitude peri-Gondwana palaeobiogeographical region to which it is endemic. Three species of the genus that were formerly assigned to Stenopareia and Zetillaenus, from the Czech Republic and Spain respectively, are herein revised, and a new species is described from the Czech Republic. The genus Octillaenus, of which a new species is described from the Upper Ordovician of Morocco, is considered to have arisen from Vysocania through paedomorphic (neotenic) processes. The relationships between Vysocania, Octillaenus, Stenopareia and Zetillaenus are reviewed and the criteria used in the definition of these taxa discussed. Species assigned to Vysocania are V. vaneki (type-species), V. iberica, V. moraveci sp. nov. and V. panderi; species assigned to Octillaenus are O. hisingeri (type-species) and O. marocanus sp. nov. Vysocania appears for the first time in the lower Berounian (Sandbian) and has its last undoubted record in the upper Berounian (upper Katian); Octillaenus is presently restricted to the Kralodvorian (upper Katian). •

The exoskeleton-type system is a brand new type of man-machine intelligent system. It fully combines human intelligence and machine power so that machine intelligence and human operator's power are both enhanced. Therefore, it achieves a high-level performance that neither could separately. This paper describes the basic exoskeleton concepts from biological system to man-machine intelligent systems. It is followed by an overview of the development history of exoskeleton-type systems and their two main applications in teleoperation and human power augmentation. Besides the key technologies in exoskeleton-type systems, the research is presented from several viewpoints of the biomechanical design, system structure modelling, cooperation and function allocation, control strategy, and safety evaluation.

Modern wearable robots are not yet intelligent enough to fully satisfy the demands of end users, as they lack the sensor fusion algorithms needed to provide optimal assistance and react quickly to perturbations or changes in user intentions. Sensor fusion applications such as intention detection have been emphasized as a major challenge for both robotic orthoses and prostheses. In order to better examine the strengths and shortcomings of the field, this paper presents a review of existing sensor fusion methods for wearable robots, both stationary ones such as rehabilitation exoskeletons and
portable ones such as active prostheses and full-body exoskeletons. Fusion methods are first presented as applied to individual sensing modalities (primarily electromyography, electroencephalography and mechanical sensors), and then four approaches to combining multiple modalities are presented. The strengths and weaknesses of the different methods are compared, and recommendations are made for
future sensor fusion research.

In response to Bill Maher's 'New Rules' on his version of "masculinity".

https://twitter.com/JacobinTrotsky/status/1507562612342546436

Other than the "hormonal male" or the resentful 'in-cel'. There's the cultural anarchist-renegade, who rejects the regression to "norms" or complains/resents the times. They, of both genders,  recognize the original presumptive fallacies of gender purpose/roles. And now define life and it's purpose on their own terms than some exoskeleton of social and cultural expectations of past behaviors and their aesthetics.

Chaos and Calamities of today may have their objective operatives and features we can name and blame, but they are the systems of the dis-ease of the cultural presumptions whose logic seeded and fertilized what is this apocalyptic 'Now'.

Anarchist-renegades rejoice in the space of contested ambiguity, for that IS the underlying dynamic: a testing and challenging of short and long term premises for the natural organic selection of the fittest existence of all.

The design of a wearable robotic exoskeleton needs to consider the interaction, either physical or cognitive, between the human user and the robotic device. This paper presents a method to analyse the interaction between the human user and a unilateral, wearable lower-limb exoskeleton. The lower-limb exoskeleton function was to compénsate for muscle weakness around the kneejoint. It isshown that the cognitive interaction is bidirectional; on theone hand, the robot gathered information from the sensors in order to detect human actions, such as the gait phases, but the subjects also modified their gait patterns to obtain the desired responses from the exoskeleton. The results of the two-phase evaluation of learning with healthy subjects and experiments with a patient case are presented, regarding the analysis of the interaction, assessed in terms of kinematics, kinetics and/or muscle recruitment. Human-driven response of the exoskeleton after training revealed the improvements in the use of the device, while particular modifications of motion patterns were observed in healthy subjects. Also, endurance (mechanical) tests provided criteria to perform experiments with one post-polio patient. The results with the post-polio patient demónstrate the feasibility of providing gait compensation by means of the presented wearable exoskeleton, designed with a testing procedure that involves the human users to assess the human-robot interaction.

Se presenta la descripción del control en modo voltaje de
seguimiento de trayectorias deseadas de flexión y extensión

() para el mecanismo reproductor del movimiento
planar de la rodilla descrito en [1]. En este esquema de
control basado en voltaje se considera un solo actuador
donde el par de carga T(t) es ejercido por el mecanismo y el
peso del usuario. También se desarrolla la prueba de
estabilidad usando el enfoque entrada-salida. Los resultados
son validados por medio de simulación.

Robotic exoskeleton is getting important to human in many aspects such as power assist, muscle training,regain motor function and rehabilitation. The research and development towards these functions are expected to be combined and integrated with the human intelligent and machine power, eventually becoming another generation of robot which will enhance the machine intelligent and human power. This
paper reviews the upper extremity exoskeleton with different functions, actuators and degree of freedom (DOF). Among the functions, rehabilitation and power assist have been highlighted while pneumatic actuator, pneumatic muscle, motor and hydraulic actuator are presented under the categories of actuator.In addition, the structure of exoskeleton is separated by its DOF in terms of shoulder, elbow, wrist and
hand.

Sebbene apparentemente confinati nell'immaginario fantascientifico, gli esoscheletri, intesi come manufatti elettromeccanici integrabili con le funzioni umane ed indossabili dall'uomo, sono oggi una realtà tecnologica sulla quale riflettere seriamente, per le potenzialità che hanno in ambito industriale. Il presente contributo si propone di analizzare i meccanismi di interazione tra questa nuova tecnologia e i principi e la disciplina della salute e sicurezza sui luoghi di lavoro

a We introduce a new type of hybrid material: nanostructured elastomer covered by a hard photoactive metal-oxide thin film resembling exoskeleton of insects. It has extreme water repellency and fast self-recovery after damage. A new fabrication method for replicating high aspect ratio, hierarchical re-entrant aluminum structures into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is presented. The method is based on a protective titania layer deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on the aluminum template. The ALD titania transfers to elastomeric scaffold via sacrificial release etching. The sacrificial release method allows for high aspect ratio, even 100 µm deep and successful release of overhanging structures, unlike conventional peeling. The ALD titania conformally covers the 3D multihierarchical structures of template and protects the polymer during the release etch. Afterwards it prevents high aspect ratio nanostructures from elasticity based collapse. The resulting nanostructured hybrid PDMS/titania replicas display robust superhydrophobicity without any further fluoro-coating or modification. Mechanical and thermal robustness results from thick nanostructured elastomeric layer which is conformally covered by ceramic titania instead of monolayer hydrophobic coating. We have demonstrated the durability of these replicas against mechanical abrasion, knife scratches, rubbing, bending, peel tape test, high temperature annealing, UV exposure, water jet impingement and long term underwater storage. Though the material loses its superhydrophobicity in oxygen plasma exposure, a fast recovery from superhydrophilic to superhydrophobic can be achieved after in 20 min UV irradiation. UV-assisted recovery is correlated to the high photoactivity of ALD titania film. This novel hybrid material will be applicable to the large area superhydrophobic surfaces in practical outdoor applications.

—In this paper 1 , the actuator-sizing problem has been addressed for exoskeleton to operate effectively and smoothly. The purpose of this exoskeleton is to assist paralyzed children to move their lower limb and perform a gait motion. Motor torques are calculated by applying the quasi-static loads produced by worst-case poses to child lower limb, and also, by the aid of normalized bio-mechanical data extracted from literature. Also, a virtual model is developed using Matlab-Simulink to verify the results.

In this paper, we study the human locomotor adaptation to the action of a powered exoskeleton providing assistive torque at the user's hip during walking. To this end, we propose a controller that provides the user's hip with a fraction of the nominal torque profile, adapted to the specific gait features of the user from Winter's reference data . The assistive controller has been implemented on the ALEX II exoskeleton and tested on ten healthy subjects. Experimental results show that when assisted by the exoskeleton, users can reduce the muscle effort compared to free walking. Despite providing assistance only to the hip joint, both hip and ankle muscles significantly reduced their activation, indicating a clear tradeoff between hip and ankle strategy to propel walking.

A healthy city is one that is continually creating and improving those physical and social environments and expanding those community resources which enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and developing to their maximum potential.

Think of an upside down parabola. What you could name as 'the feet  in the air' for the tips of the curve at the top; they represent those of the most satiated over-compensated decompression while those at the bottom of the U-curve are the most frustrated and dissatisfied. One could say that the  two legs of the U-curve are metaphors for an indefinite number of such    legs (stems) that could exist in a 360 degree pattern circling around.      The metaphorical two stem-legs represent the juxtaposition of contrasting material fates and their reflective opposite equivalents.

Getting back to decompression from emotionally confining circumstances.  I'm beginning to think that our feral, pre-complex-acculturaton to socializing from our genetic nature-back to the pre-neolithic hunter-gatherer days: there was more intuitive, aka gut-based, behaviors than    the present pre-programmed templates-informal and formal. The  acculturation is much like an exoskeleton on the psyche. When it is ubiquitously common condition shared by most, there is the same    common acceptance.

When stark differences and disparities become acknowledged, then the privileged "freedom" of some affect those of more restrictive privileges ,      at first, with personal dissatisfaction with one's condition before seeing factors beyond one's self as contributing-to-conspiring against one's aspiration for equivalent satiated satisfaction.

In my case, going from having dominant control of the when, how,        and where of my time to the protocols of a part-time job has revealed        the contrasting emotions of little-to-no need to decompress at the end        of a work day to seeing the need for a much needed recess for my      cognitive energies to matters more resonant and congruent to the former privilege of being the determiner of my time, than the now one who's    time is obliged for less enjoyable means.

If I in a relative less onerous and dangerous condition can be so    consciously aware of this cognitive contrast, what about those for      whom work is a dire or necessary, if not involuntary subordinate    necessity. What ever free time and space they could get, it would not        be unexpected for them to seek an amplitude of decompression that    would be more acutely intense than me typing these words of analysis      for you with relatively equivalent decompression needs similar to mine.  And those whose conditions are more restrictive and repressive on their latitude of options? Compound that with physical and emotional    assaults-micro/macro-on their persona for which simple unwinding decompression is not enough!!

It's the nature of the depths and the crushing intensity found at those depths at the bottom of that U-curve that the crushing nature of the acculturated socialization is known for its literal bare, nakedness of brutality. Everything up the chains and their reflective, juxtaposed  opposites are the less traumatic versions of what occurs at the bottom        of the U-curve (bottom of the crab basket) of emotionally 'humane'  survival.


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This paper presents a novel electromyography (EMG)-driven hand exoskeleton for bilateral rehabilitation of grasping in stroke. The developed hand exoskeleton was designed with two distinctive features: (a) kinematics with intrinsic adaptability to patient’s hand size, (b) free-palm and free-fingertip design, preserving the residual sensory perceptual capability of touch during assistance in grasping of real objects. In the envisaged bilateral training strategy, the patient’s non paretic hand acted as guidance for the paretic hand in grasping tasks. Grasping force exerted by the non paretic hand was estimated in real-time from EMG signals, and then replicated as robotic assistance for the paretic hand by means of the hand-exoskeleton. Estimation of the grasping force through EMG allowed to perform rehabilitation exercises with any, non sensorized, graspable objects. This paper presents the system design, development, and experimental evaluation. Experiments were performed within a group of 6 healthy subjects and 2 chronic stroke patients, executing robotic-assisted grasping tasks. Results related to performance in estimation and modulation of the robotic assistance, and to the outcomes of the pilot rehabilitation sessions with stroke patients, positively support validity of the proposed approach for application in stroke rehabilitation.

Soft, lightweight, underactuated assistive gloves (exogloves)
can be useful for enhancing the capabilities of a healthy
individual or to assist the rehabilitation of patients who suffer from
conditions that limit the mobility of their fingers. However, most
solutions found in the literature do not offer individual control of
the fingers, hindering the execution of different types of grasps. In
this letter, we focus on the development of a soft, underactuated,
tendon-driven exo-glove that is equipped with a muscle-machine
interface combining Electromyography and Forcemyography sensors
to decode the user intent and allow the execution of specific
grasp types. The device is experimentally tested and evaluated using
different types of experiments: first, grasp experiments to assess
the capability of the proposed muscle machine interface to discriminate
between different grasp types and second, force exertion capability
experiments, which evaluate the maximum forces that can
be applied for different grasp types. The proposed device weighs
1150 g and costs∼1000 USD (in parts). The exoglove is capable of
considerably improving the grasping capabilities of the user, facilitating
the execution of different types of grasps and exerting forces
up to 20 N.

Work without the encumbrance of the worker is paralleled by “food
without food.” You can directly consume proteins and carbohydrates
and other necessary ingredients for the body, no need for food.
Soylent is one such powdered ‘food replacement’ developed by
Robert Rhinehart.

Lower-limb wearable robots have been proposed as a means to augment or assist the wearer's natural performance, in particular, in the military and medical field. Previous research studies on human-robot interaction and biomechanics have largely been performed with rigid exoskeletons that add significant inertia to the lower extremities and provide constraints to the wearer's natural kinematics in both actuated and non-actuated degrees of freedom. Actuated lightweight soft exosuits minimize these effects and provide a unique opportunity to study human-robot interaction in wearable systems without affecting the subjects underlying natural dynamics. In this paper, we present the design and control of a reconfigurable multi-joint actuation platform that can provide biologically realistic torques to ankle, knee, and hip joints through lower extremity soft exosuits. Two different soft exosuits have been designed to deliver assistive forces through Bowden cable transmission to the ankle and hip joints. Through human subject experiments, it is demonstrated that with a real-time admittance controller, accurate force profile tracking can be achieved during walking. The average energy delivered to the test subject was calculated while walking at 1.25 m/s and actuated with 15% of the total torque required by the biological joints. The results show that the ankle joint received an average of 3.02J during plantar flexion and that the hip joint received 1.67J during flexion each gait cycle. The efficiency of the described suit and controller in transferring energy to the human biological joints is 70% for the ankle and 48% for the hip.

A wearable robot called the ‘Exoskeleton’ has been developed to assist in human activity in industrial and medical contexts. The Exoskeleton product interacts with the human body much more closely than do other products. Thus, it is important to know how much force the robot will generate before manufacturing the real Exoskeleton. The easiest and most accurate way to determine the force would be to develop a mock-up model for the physical test, but to do so would be very expensive. Thus, it is preferable to predict the force during the design stage using a virtual prototyping environment. In this research, a combined human-exoskeleton model is generated, and dynamics analysis is performed under two different constraints using the AnyBody Software to predict the effect of the strap connecting the user to the exoskeleton. For this purpose, an AnyBody human model is used after scaling, and a simplified exoskeleton model designed in a CAD system is converted to a dynamic model. Constrai...

This paper presents a novel electromyography (EMG)-driven hand exoskeleton for bilateral rehabilitation of grasping in stroke. The developed hand exoskeleton was designed with two distinctive features: (a) kinematics with intrinsic adaptability to patient's hand size, (b) free-palm and free-fingertip design, preserving the residual sensory perceptual capability of touch during assistance in grasping of real objects. In the envisaged bilateral training strategy, the patient's non paretic hand acted as guidance for the paretic hand in grasping tasks. Grasping force exerted by the non paretic hand was estimated in real-time from EMG signals, and then replicated as robotic assistance for the paretic hand by means of the hand-exoskeleton. Estimation of the grasping force through EMG allowed to perform rehabilitation exercises with any, non sensorized, graspable objects. This paper presents the system design, development, and experimental evaluation. Experiments were performed wit...

PL: Zbyt ciężki ekwipunek żołnierzy może powodować kontuzje, urazy i trwałe inwalidztwo oraz zmniejszać efektywność bojową oddziałów. Dlatego amerykańskie siły zbrojne próbują zmniejszyć obciążenie swoich oddziałów, między innymi inwestując w badania nad nowymi technologiami. Postęp w rozwoju systemów mechatronicznych, jaki dokonał się od końca lat 90., umożliwił skonstruowanie egzoszkieletu wspomaganego – noszonego przez człowieka robota, który pozwala żołnierzom szybciej i dłużej maszerować oraz biegać, a także podnosić i przenosić ciężkie obiekty. Do najbardziej zaawansowanych współczesnych amerykańskich egzoszkieletów bojowych należą: BLEEX, HULC i XOS. Do niedawna idea zautomatyzowanego kombinezonu, który daje nadludzką siłę i wytrzymałość, pozostawała domeną fantastyki naukowej, jednak w ciągu ostatniej dekady materializuje się coraz bardziej. Popkulturowy superbohater, Iron Man, wkracza do amerykańskich sił zbrojnych i na pole bitwy. Przyszła egzoszkieletyzacja armii rodzi jednak pewne pytania natury etycznej związane z przekształceniem roli czynnika ludzkiego na wojnie oraz technologizacji i dehumanizacji żołnierza.

ENG: Too heavy an equipment for a soldier may lead to injuries or permanent disability and decrease combat effectiveness of troops. Therefore, US armed forces make all attempts to diminish the loads troops have to carry, for example by investing in research on new technologies. An advancement of mechatronic systems that has been ongoing since the 1990s made it possible to design a powered exoskeleton – a robot worn by a human who allows a soldier to march and run faster and longer, as well as lift and carry heavy loads. Among most advanced combat exoskeletons are: BLEEX, HULC and XOS. The idea of an automated uniform, which gives a man superhuman strength and endurance, until recently was possible only in science fiction movies. However, in the last decade, it has materialized into reality more and more. A pop-culture superhero – Iron Man – is entering US armed forces and a battlefield. A future soldier and its exoskeleton raises however some ethical questions, related to a transformation of a human factor role during warfare and making a soldier  dehumanized and technological.

Many 4-DOF exoskeleton type robot devices have been widely developed for the gait rehabilitation of post-stroke patients. However, most systems run with purely position control not allowing voluntary active movements of the subject. The lack of intelligent control strategies for variable gait patterns has been a clinical concern of such kind exoskeleton man-machine systems. In this work, we establish a 5-link model for the usual 4-DOF gait rehabilitation exoskeleton type man-machine system and propose a gait trajectory adaption control strategy. A 4-DOF gait rehabilitation exoskeleton prototype is developed as a platform for the evaluation of design concepts and control strategies in the view of improved physical human-robot interaction. The experimental results with eight healthy volunteers and three stroke patients are encouraging.

An exoskeleton is a wearable electromechanical structure that is intended to resemble and allow movements in a manner similar to the human skeletal system. They can be used by both disabled and able people alike to increase physical strength in carrying out tasks that would be otherwise difficult, or as a rehabilitation device to aid in physiotherapeutic activities of a weakened body part. This paper intends to introduce a voicecontrolled upper body exoskeleton for industrial applications which can aid workers wearing it by reducing stresses on their arms and shoulders over longer periods and add up to 20kg more strength in lifting applications. The 3D design, calculations and considerations, and load analysis are presented along with brief results of a basic prototype model of the exoskeleton.

Robotic hand exoskeletons have become a popular and efficient technological solution for assisting people that suffer from neurological conditions and for enhancing the capabilities of healthy individuals. This class of devices ranges from rigid and complex structures to soft, lightweight, wearable gloves. In this work, we propose a hybrid (tendon-driven and pneumatic), lightweight, affordable, easy-to-operate exoskeleton glove equipped with variable stiffness, laminar jamming structures, abduction/adduction capabilities, and a pneumatic telescopic extra thumb that increases grasp stability. The efficiency of the proposed device is experimentally validated through five different types of experiments: i) abduction/adduction tests, ii) force exertion experiments that capture the forces that can be exerted by the proposed device under different conditions, iii) bending profile experiments that evaluate the effect of the laminar jamming structures on the way the fingers bend, iv) grasp quality assessment experiments that focus on the effect of the inflatable thumb on enhancing grasp stability, and v) grasping experiments involving everyday objects and seven subjects. The hybrid assistive, exoskeleton glove considerably improves the grasping capabilities of the user, being able to exert the forces required to execute a plethora of activities of daily living. All files that allow the replication of the device are distributed in an open-source manner.

Metabolic studies have shown that there is a metabolic cost associated with carrying load . Several leg exoskeletons have been developed by various groups in an attempt to augment the load carrying capability of the human. Previous research efforts have not fully exploited the passive dynamics of walking and have largely focused on fully actuated exoskeletons that are heavy with large energy requirements. In this paper, a lightweight, underactuated exoskeleton design is presented that runs in parallel to the human and supports the weight of a payload. Two exoskeleton architectures are pursued based on examining human walking data. A first architecture consists of springs at the hip, a variable impedance device at the knee, and springs at the ankle. A second architecture replaces the springs at the hip with a non-conservative actuator to examine the effect of adding power at desired instances throughout the gait cycle. Preliminary studies show that an efficient, underactuated leg exoskeleton can effectively transmit payload forces to the ground during the walking cycle.

Metabolic studies have shown that there is a metabolic cost associated with carrying load . Several leg exoskeletons have been developed by various groups in an attempt to augment the load carrying capability of the human. Previous research efforts have not fully exploited the passive dynamics of walking and have largely focused on fully actuated exoskeletons that are heavy with large energy requirements. In this paper, a lightweight, underactuated exoskeleton design is presented that runs in parallel to the human and supports the weight of a payload. Two exoskeleton architectures are pursued based on examining human walking data. A first architecture consists of springs at the hip, a variable impedance device at the knee, and springs at the ankle. A second architecture replaces the springs at the hip with a non-conservative actuator to examine the effect of adding power at desired instances throughout the gait cycle. Preliminary studies show that an efficient, underactuated leg exoskeleton can effectively transmit payload forces to the ground during the walking cycle.

Avoiding falls is a challenge for many persons in aging societies, and balance dysfunction is a major risk factor. Robotic solutions to assist human gait, however, focus on average kinematics, and less on instantaneous balance reactions. We propose a controller that only intervenes when needed, and that avoids stability issues when interacting with humans: Assistance is triggered only when balance is lost, and this action is purely feed-forward. Experiments show that subjects who start falling during gait can be uprighted by such feed-forward assistive forces. Zusammenfassung Sturzvermeidung ist eine ständige Herausforderung für viele Menschen in alternden Gesellschaften, und Gleichgewichtsprobleme stellen ein bedeutendes Risiko für einen Sturz dar. Heutige robotische Lösungen zur Unterstützung des menschlichen Gangs sind allerdings hauptsächlich auf das gemittelte Gangbild ausgerichtet und weniger auf instantane Gleichgewichtsreaktionen. Wir schlagen hier einen Regler vor, der nur dann interveniert, wenn nötig, und der keine Stabilitätsprobleme verursacht, wenn er mit dem Menschen interagiert: Stellgrößen werden erst dann generiert, wenn der Mensch das Gleichgewicht verliert, und diese Unterstützung fungiert als reine Vorsteuerung. Experimentelle Ergebnisse zeigen, dass menschliche Probanden, die während des Gehens zu fallen beginnen, durch solche unterstützenden, vorgesteuerten Kräfte in eine aufrechte Haltung gebracht werden können.

We propose a novel control method for lower-limb assist that produces a virtual modification of the mechanical impedance of the human limbs. This effect is accomplished by making the exoskeleton display active impedance properties. Active impedance control emphasizes control of the exoskeleton's dynamics and regulation of the transfer of energy between the exoskeleton and the user. Its goal is improving the dynamic response of the human limbs without sacrificing the user's control authority. The proposed method is an alternative to myoelectrical exoskeleton control, which is based on estimating muscle torques from electromyographical (EMG) activity. Implementation of an EMG-based controller is a complex task that involves modeling the user's musculoskeletal system and requires recalibration. In contrast, active impedance control is less dependent on estimation of the user's attempted motion, thereby avoiding conflicts resulting from inaccurate estimation.