Design of a biomechanically synergistic exotendon suit
Name
871002370-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
8.38 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
5e7c944410fb43a7366792bee594a0bc
Author(s)
Graves, Carmen Marten-Ellis
Advisor(s)
Sangbae Kim.
Date Issued
2013
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The focus of this thesis is on the design, development, and evaluation of a lightweight, exotendon suit for load carriage. The suit is intended to be worn underneath the wearer's own clothes for use in a military setting, while reducing the energy expenditure of the wearer. A simple exotendon suit architecture was designed and implemented, consisting of two knee braces, a length of polypropylene tendon, a belt, two electro-magnet clutches, and a control box. The electro-magnet clutches are mounted at the waist and tendons are used to apply the actuator's force to the wearer's ankles. This is advantageous, as many current exoskeletons mount actuators at the ankles, requiring a greater amount of additional energy expenditure. Testing was performed at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering Motion Capture Laboratory. Metabolic power was tested using a COSMED K4b2 system and surface electromyogram (sEMG) data was collected using a Delsys Trigno system. Five male subjects participated in six trials, walking on a treadmill at 1.25 m/s, carrying a 20 kg load in a standard military rucksack. The six trials consisted of three conditions: street clothes, exosuit worn but unpowered (passive), and exosuit word and powered (active). Results of the tests were inconclusive. There was no significant evidence that powering the exosuit has a positive or negative effect on the wearer's energy usage.
Description
Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 51-52).
Subjects
Mechanical Engineering.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
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