Article

Kinematic design to improve ergonomics in human machine interaction.

Automation and Robotics Section, Mechanical Engineering Department, European Space Research and Technology Centre, European Space Agency, 2201 AZ Noordwijk ZH, The Netherlands.
IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering (impact factor: 3.44). 01/2007; 14(4):456-69. DOI:10.1109/TNSRE.2006.881565
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT This paper introduces a novel kinematic design paradigm for ergonomic human machine interaction. Goals for optimal design are formulated generically and applied to the mechanical design of an upper-arm exoskeleton. A nine degree-of-freedom (DOF) model of the human arm kinematics is presented and used to develop, test, and optimize the kinematic structure of an human arm interfacing exoskeleton. The resulting device can interact with an unprecedented portion of the natural limb workspace, including motions in the shoulder-girdle, shoulder, elbow, and the wrist. The exoskeleton does not require alignment to the human joint axes, yet is able to actuate each DOF of our redundant limb unambiguously and without reaching into singularities. The device is comfortable to wear and does not create residual forces if misalignments exist. Implemented in a rehabilitation robot, the design features of the exoskeleton could enable longer lasting training sessions, training of fully natural tasks such as activities of daily living and shorter dress-on and dress-off times. Results from inter-subject experiments with a prototype are presented, that verify usability over the entire workspace of the human arm, including shoulder and shoulder girdle.

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Keywords

design features
 
ergonomic human machine interaction
 
human arm
 
human arm interfacing exoskeleton
 
human arm kinematics
 
human joint axes
 
inter-subject experiments
 
lasting training sessions
 
mechanical design
 
natural limb workspace
 
nine degree-of-freedom
 
novel kinematic design paradigm
 
optimal design
 
paper introduces
 
redundant limb unambiguously
 
resulting device
 
shoulder girdle
 
unprecedented portion
 
upper-arm exoskeleton
 
verify usability
 

André Schiele