Design and Evaluation of a Spring-loaded Upper Limb Exoskeleton for Resistance Training
Date Issued
2012
Date
2012
Author(s)
Wu, Tzong-Ming
Abstract
Regular physical activity reduces the risk of adverse health outcomes for people of all ages. Research has demonstrated that most individuals can benefit from regular physical activity, regardless of whether they participate in vigorous exercise or moderate physical activity. Habitual physical activity and exercise also reduce the risk of chronic disease. For young, healthy people, many aspects of physical fitness can easily be realized by performing exercises that do not require special equipment. Various exercise devices have been developed to enable individuals who require assistance to achieve their physical fitness goals efficiently and consistently. However, concerns have been raised over the possible negative effects and safety of these exercise devices for elderly and clinical populations. Here, an unpowered spring-loaded upper limb exoskeleton designed for strengthening the muscles of the upper limbs at single and multiple joints in different planes is proposed. The upper limb exoskeleton consists of a shoulder joint with three degrees of freedom and an elbow joint with one degree of freedom, and it can perform internal-external, abduction-adduction, and flexion-extension movements of the shoulder, as well as flexion-extension motions of the elbow. Our aim was to provide an upper limb resistance training device that is compact, cost-effective, easy to operate, and safe for elderly and clinical populations who exercise at low and moderate speeds and that can be used for home-based rehabilitation in the absence of a fitness instructor or therapist. Kinematic and dynamic models have been formulated to develop design criteria to analyze free-weight and spring-loaded exoskeletons for upper limb resistance training. Embodiment design was performed and a prototype was constructed for evaluation. Motion analysis methods and electromyography measurements were chosen for evaluation of the joint torques and the neuromuscular response of major upper limb muscles when male and female subjects performed the designated resistance training. The collected data, along with kinematic and dynamic joint torque analysis, not only verifies our hypothesis that, with zero-free-length springs, this spring-loaded upper limb exoskeleton is capable of reducing unfavorable lengthening of the muscles during high-intensity free-weight exercises but also provides important general principles for designing appropriate spring-loaded exoskeletons for upper limb resistance training.
Subjects
resistance exercise
upper limb exoskeleton
free-weight exercise
motion analysis
electromyography
Type
thesis
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