Title :
Accuracy improvement of pinching force augmentation by exoskeleton
Author :
Hasegawa, Yasuhisa ; Tokita, Junichiro ; Kamibayashi, Kiyotaka ; Ariyama, Tetsuri
Author_Institution :
Graduated Sch. of Syst. & Inf. Eng., Univ. of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
Abstract :
This paper proposes a support structure for a wearer to precisely control a pinching force with the support of an exoskeleton, which augments human pinching force based on a surface electromyography. A human hand should make a direct contact with the environment for the best use of human intelligence because a tactile sensory feedback from the hand is very important information for a human to handle it accurately and dexterously. However the direct contact may bring excessive force on the human finger when the exoskeleton thrusts the finger into the environment with strong force. This paper proposes the best support structure, type D, by investigating accuracy of a human pinching force with four different types of exoskeletons. They allow the finger to directly contact the environment but force transfer paths from the exoskeleton to the environment are different in each other. Through pilot experiments, the exoskeleton that supports more precise force control and safer manipulation is proposed.
Keywords :
electromyography; feedback; force control; geriatrics; handicapped aids; human-robot interaction; manipulators; medical robotics; tactile sensors; user interfaces; exoskeleton; force transfer paths; pinching force augmentation accuracy improvement; pinching force control; surface electromyography; tactile sensory feedback; wearable hand support system; Exoskeletons; Force; Grasping; Humans; Joints; Thumb; Wires;
Conference_Titel :
Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob), 2012 4th IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Rome
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4577-1199-2
DOI :
10.1109/BioRob.2012.6290899