“…The benefits of using SWRs for UB assistance avoid placing heavy components or restricting joint alignments on the user’s arms or torso. Many of these SWRs for the UB are outlined in the following sections to discuss several types of assistance in more detail.Figure 5.A brief survey of recent soft wearable robot (SWR) technologies for each of the following upper body joints: (a) A soft robotic hand developed at Harvard University at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering (Cappello et al 2018b), (b) a soft assistive device for the wrist made from fabric materials (Realmuto and Sanger 2019), (c) a soft elbow exosuit designed at Arizona State University (Thalman et al 2018), (d) shoulder-assistive device also from Harvard University at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering (O’Neill et al 2017), (e) trunk orthosis from the Reconfigurable Robotics Lab at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Robertson and Paik 2016), and (f) an upper body device that assists multiple joints via cable-driven actuation (Lessard 2018). …”
Section: Upper Body Soft Assistive Roboticsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…New developments in fabric-based inflatable textiles have allowed for the implementation of new materials that can achieve a high variety of deformations and force translations (Cappello et al 2018a;Realmuto and Sanger 2019). Fabric-based actuators have also been created to mimic the behavior of bellows to create a bending or rotary motion, similar in mechanical principles to the PneuNet actuator (Khin et al 2017;Felt et al 2018;Thalman et al 2018;Yang and Asbeck 2018;Miller-Jackson et al 2019b).…”
Section: Fabric-based Inflatables and Textilesmentioning
This review meta-analysis combines and compares the findings of previously published works in the field of soft wearable robots (SWRs) that provide active methods of actuation for assistive and augmentative purposes. A thorough investigation of major contributions in the field of an SWR is made to analyze trends in the field focused on fluidic and cable-driven systems, prevalent and successful approaches, and identify the future direction of SWRs and active actuation strategies. Types of soft actuators used in wearables are outlined, as well as general practices for fabrication methods of soft actuators and considerations for human–robot interface designs of garment-like exosuits. An overview of well-known and emerging upper body (UB)- and lower body (LB)-assistive technologies is categorized by the specific joints and degree of freedom (DoF) assisted and which actuator methodology is provided. Different use cases for SWRs are addressed, as well as implementation strategies and design applications.
“…The benefits of using SWRs for UB assistance avoid placing heavy components or restricting joint alignments on the user’s arms or torso. Many of these SWRs for the UB are outlined in the following sections to discuss several types of assistance in more detail.Figure 5.A brief survey of recent soft wearable robot (SWR) technologies for each of the following upper body joints: (a) A soft robotic hand developed at Harvard University at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering (Cappello et al 2018b), (b) a soft assistive device for the wrist made from fabric materials (Realmuto and Sanger 2019), (c) a soft elbow exosuit designed at Arizona State University (Thalman et al 2018), (d) shoulder-assistive device also from Harvard University at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering (O’Neill et al 2017), (e) trunk orthosis from the Reconfigurable Robotics Lab at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Robertson and Paik 2016), and (f) an upper body device that assists multiple joints via cable-driven actuation (Lessard 2018). …”
Section: Upper Body Soft Assistive Roboticsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…New developments in fabric-based inflatable textiles have allowed for the implementation of new materials that can achieve a high variety of deformations and force translations (Cappello et al 2018a;Realmuto and Sanger 2019). Fabric-based actuators have also been created to mimic the behavior of bellows to create a bending or rotary motion, similar in mechanical principles to the PneuNet actuator (Khin et al 2017;Felt et al 2018;Thalman et al 2018;Yang and Asbeck 2018;Miller-Jackson et al 2019b).…”
Section: Fabric-based Inflatables and Textilesmentioning
This review meta-analysis combines and compares the findings of previously published works in the field of soft wearable robots (SWRs) that provide active methods of actuation for assistive and augmentative purposes. A thorough investigation of major contributions in the field of an SWR is made to analyze trends in the field focused on fluidic and cable-driven systems, prevalent and successful approaches, and identify the future direction of SWRs and active actuation strategies. Types of soft actuators used in wearables are outlined, as well as general practices for fabrication methods of soft actuators and considerations for human–robot interface designs of garment-like exosuits. An overview of well-known and emerging upper body (UB)- and lower body (LB)-assistive technologies is categorized by the specific joints and degree of freedom (DoF) assisted and which actuator methodology is provided. Different use cases for SWRs are addressed, as well as implementation strategies and design applications.
“…Applying soft robotic technologies is a great approach for a compact, lightweight, user-friendly and portable exoskeleton for the upper limb, since the soft actuators and sensors are lightweight, compact and have high DOFs [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45]. Pneumatic actuators are widely used for wearable applications since they can produce high force compared to that of other soft actuators along with large deformations.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Pneumatic actuators are widely used for wearable applications since they can produce high force compared to that of other soft actuators along with large deformations. Several soft wearable robots for the wrist using multiple pneumatic actuators that produce bending or linear contraction motion were suggested [36][37][38][39][40]. However, the systems that use the pneumatic actuators require compressors and regulators, which in turn makes it hard to be used as a portable robot.…”
In this paper, we propose a shape memory alloy (SMA)-based wearable robot that assists the wrist motion for patients who have difficulties in manipulating the lower arm. Since SMA shows high contraction strain when it is designed as a form of coil spring shape, the proposed muscle-like actuator was designed after optimizing the spring parameters. The fabricated actuator shows a maximum force of 10 N and a maximum contraction ratio of 40%. The SMA-based wearable robot, named soft wrist assist (SWA), assists 2 degrees of freedom (DOF) wrist motions. In addition, the robot is totally flexible and weighs 151g for the wearable parts. A maximum torque of 1.32 Nm was measured for wrist flexion, and a torque of larger than 0.5 Nm was measured for the other motions. The robot showed the average range of motion (ROM) with 33.8, 30.4, 15.4, and 21.4 degrees for flexion, extension, ulnar, and radial deviation, respectively. Thanks to the soft feature of the SWA, time cost for wearing the device is shorter than 2 min as was also the case for patients when putting it on by themselves. From the experimental results, the SWA is expected to support wrist motion for diverse activities of daily living (ADL) routinely for patients.
“…Doing so removes components and therefore mass from the system, allowing exosuits to be constructed of primarily compliant materials that are lightweight, inexpensive, and require less precise manufacturing. While early exosuit designs focused on assisting with locomotion [17]- [19], several recent examples actuate the upper extremity [20], [21]. Specifically, exosuits have been created to assist with arm movements in stroke survivors [22]- [28].…”
Assistive devices may aid motor recovery after a stroke, but access to such devices is limited. Exosuits may be a more accessible alternative to current devices and have been used to successfully assist movement after a variety of motor impairments, but we know little about how they might assist post-stroke upper extremity movement. Here, we designed an exosuit actuator to support shoulder abduction, which we call an "exomuscle" and is based on a form of growing robot known as a pneumatic-reel actuator. We also assembled a ceiling-mounted support to serve as a positive control. We verified that both supports reduce the activity of shoulder abductor muscles and do not impede range of motion in healthy participants (n=4). Then, we measured reachable workspace area in stroke survivors (n=6) both with and without support. Our exomuscle increased workspace area in four participants (180±90 cm 2 ) while the ceiling support increased workspace area in five participants (792±540 cm 2 ). Design decisions that make the exomuscle wearable, such as leaving the forearm free, likely contribute to the performance differences between the two supports. Heterogeneity amongst stroke survivors' abilities likely contribute to a high variability in our results. Though both supports resulted in similar performance for healthy participants, the performance differences in stroke survivors highlight the need to validate assistive devices in the target population.
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