Michael Shepertycky

Queen's University | QueensU · Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering

Evolutionary pressures have led humans to walk in a highly efficient manner that conserves energy, making it difficult for exoskeletons to reduce the metabolic cost of walking. Despite the challenge, some exoskeletons have managed to lessen the metabolic expenditure of walking, either by adding or storing and returning energy. We show that the use...

Walking is a metabolically demanding activity. Scientists have developed two general approaches to reducing the metabolic cost of walking using exoskeletons: 1) adding energy to the human-device system to assist concentric muscle contractions, and 2) transferring energy from one gait phase to another (or from one joint to another) to assist isometr...

The purpose of this study was to determine how sign language users perceive the sign language recognition (SLR) field, with a focus on gaining perspectives from members of the Canadian Deaf community. A questionnaire consisting of a series of rating and open-ended questions was used to gather perspectives and insights related to a hypothetical SLR...

An apparatus and method for generating electrical power from a user comprises a motion capture apparatus that captures at least a portion of motion of a pair of limbs of the user; a motion integrator mechanically coupled to the motion capture apparatus such that captured motion of the pair of limbs is transferred to the motion integrator, and the m...

Biomechanical energy harvesters (BMEHs) have shown that useable amounts of electricity can be generated from daily movement. Where access to an electrical power grid is limited, BMEHs are a viable alternative to accommodate energy requirements for portable electronics. In this paper, we present the detailed design and dynamic model of a lower limb-...

Much research in the field of energy harvesting has sought to develop devices capable of generating electricity during daily activities with minimum user effort. No previous study has considered the metabolic cost of carrying the harvester when determining the energetic effects it has on the user. When considering device carrying costs, no energy h...

Intermittent energy harvesting devices often have difficulties in harvesting the peak energy generated due to battery power limitations, which increase the size and cost of the device. This paper discusses a power electronics module (PEM) that is used to extract power from a human energy harvesting device according to the user's desired difficulty...

In the past decade, society has become increasingly dependent on portable electronic devices that are almost exclusively powered by batteries. The performance and duration of operation of these devices are constrained by the limited energy per unit mass of batteries. Recent advances in the field of energy harvesting have led to the development of e...

A biomechanical energy harvesting backpack that generates electrical energy during human walking is presented. This device differs from previous designs because it integrates motion from both lower limbs into a single mechanical drive train. The energy harvesting backpack produced an average of 15 W of electricity during walking at a speed of 1.2m/...