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Use of Pneumatic Artificial Muscles in a Passive Upper Body Exoskeleton

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New Trends in Medical and Service Robotics (MESROB 2021)

Part of the book series: Mechanisms and Machine Science ((Mechan. Machine Science,volume 106))

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Abstract

This paper presents a preliminary study on a novel upper body exoskeleton conceived for human effort reduction in uncomfortable operations. The exoskeleton is constituted by a light wearable structure energized by two McKibben pneumatic artificial muscles, which could be used in passive (such as springs) or active mode (such as actuators). In this work, the modelling and the design of the exoskeleton is presented. The performance of the exoskeleton is evaluated considering two commercial McKibben muscles used in passive mode. The results underline that the exoskeleton can be adapted to compensate the weight of the upper limbs and a load in the hands of an operator under defined working conditions.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. DIMEAS-Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy

    Mattia Vincenzo Lo Piccolo & Carlo Ferraresi

  2. Department of Computer Science, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

    Giovanni Gerardo Muscolo

Authors
  1. Mattia Vincenzo Lo Piccolo
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  2. Giovanni Gerardo Muscolo
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  3. Carlo Ferraresi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giovanni Gerardo Muscolo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. BIROMED-Lab, DBE, University of Basel, Allschwil, Switzerland

    Georg Rauter

  2. University of Calabria, Rende, Italy

    Giuseppe Carbone

  3. CIAN, DBE, University of Basel, Allschwil, Switzerland

    Philippe C. Cattin

  4. BLOG, DBE, University of Basel, Allschwil, Switzerland

    Azhar Zam

  5. Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Doina Pisla

  6. Sensory-Motor Systems Lab, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Robert Riener

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Lo Piccolo, M.V., Muscolo, G.G., Ferraresi, C. (2022). Use of Pneumatic Artificial Muscles in a Passive Upper Body Exoskeleton. In: Rauter, G., Carbone, G., Cattin, P.C., Zam, A., Pisla, D., Riener, R. (eds) New Trends in Medical and Service Robotics. MESROB 2021. Mechanisms and Machine Science, vol 106. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76147-9_9

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