Leg motion is essential to everyday tasks, yet many face a daily struggle due to leg motion impairment. Traditional robotic solutions for lower limb rehabilitation have arisen, but they may bare some limitations due to their cost. Soft robotics utilizes soft, pliable materials which may afford a less costly robotic solution. This work presents a soft-pneumatic-actuator-driven exoskeleton for hip flexion rehabilitation. An array of soft pneumatic rotary actuators is used for torque generation. An analytical model of the actuators is validated and used to determine actuator parameters for the target application of hip flexion. The performance of the assembly is assessed, and it is found capable of the target torque for hip flexion, 19.8 Nm at 30°, requiring 86 kPa to reach that torque output. The assembly exhibits a maximum torque of 31 Nm under the conditions tested. The full exoskeleton assembly is then assessed with healthy human subjects as they perform a set of lower limb motions. For one motion, the Leg Raise, a muscle signal reduction of 43.5% is observed during device assistance, as compared to not wearing the device. This reduction in muscle effort indicates that the device is effective in providing hip flexion assistance and suggests that pneumatic-rotary-actuator-driven exoskeletons are a viable solution to realize more accessible options for those who suffer from lower limb immobility.
The aim of this study was to describe and compare the different character sub-types of Javanese dance from a biomechanical perspective. One professional dancer was asked to repeat a basic motion (standingup) according to the movement rules that pertain to six character sub-types (humble-refined, proud-refined, humblestrong, proud-strong, monkey, and bird). A motion capture system consisting of seven infrared cameras with a sample rate of 100 Hz and two force plates with a sample rate of 1,000 Hz were used to capture kinematics and kinetics. There were significant differences in the biomechanical values we calculated for each character sub-type: range of motion, angular velocity, and ground reaction forces. The refined sub-types (humble-refined and proud-refined) showed the lowest values at the knee joint for range of motion and the lowest ankle, shoulder, and wrist angular velocities. This result suggests that low values in these measurements are related to the smooth movements of refined sub-types. These measurements help describe and contrast the motion patterns of Javanese dance, contributing both to the scientific analysis of Javanese dance and the application of biomechanics to the study of dance more generally.
The development of soft robotic hand exoskeletons for rehabilitation has been well-reported in the literature, whereby the emphasis was placed on the development of soft actuators for flexion and extension. Little attention was focused on developing the glove interface and attachments of actuators to the hand. As these hand exoskeletons are largely developed for personnel with impaired hand function for rehabilitation, it may be tedious to aid the patients in donning and doffing the glove, given that patients usually have stiff fingers exhibiting high muscle tone. To address this issue, a hybrid securing actuator was developed and powered pneumatically to allow for rapid securing and release of a body segment. As a proof of concept, the actuator was further adapted into a self-securing glove mechanism and assembled into a complete self-securing soft robotic hand exoskeleton with the attachment of bidirectional actuators. Our validation tests show that the self-wearing soft robotic hand exoskeleton can easily conform and secure onto the human hand and assist with manipulation tasks.
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