TY - GEN
T1 - A soft wearable sleeve for joint stiffness modulation
AU - Zhang, Xiaotian
AU - Singh, Gaurav
AU - Krishnan, Girish
N1 - Resrach supported by National Science Foundation under Grant no. CMMI-1454276
PY - 2016/9/26
Y1 - 2016/9/26
N2 - In this paper, we present the design and analysis of a soft wearable sleeve capable of modulating the stiffness of a joint. The sleeve uses a novel fabric-like architecture of miniaturized soft fluidic actuators known as Fiber Reinforced Elastomeric Enclosures (FREEs). By selective actuation of FREEs in this architecture, we demonstrate joint stiffening in either one or both directions. The paper presents an analytical formulation to capture this stiffness modulation by (a) predicting stroke and forces generated by individual FREEs, and (b) applying them in the context of the architecture geometry to predict joint stiffness. We further verify the stiffness model with experimental bench top testing. The sleeve is soft, lightweight and discreet - worn under standard clothing - and can be configured for any joint and size.
AB - In this paper, we present the design and analysis of a soft wearable sleeve capable of modulating the stiffness of a joint. The sleeve uses a novel fabric-like architecture of miniaturized soft fluidic actuators known as Fiber Reinforced Elastomeric Enclosures (FREEs). By selective actuation of FREEs in this architecture, we demonstrate joint stiffening in either one or both directions. The paper presents an analytical formulation to capture this stiffness modulation by (a) predicting stroke and forces generated by individual FREEs, and (b) applying them in the context of the architecture geometry to predict joint stiffness. We further verify the stiffness model with experimental bench top testing. The sleeve is soft, lightweight and discreet - worn under standard clothing - and can be configured for any joint and size.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84992374689&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84992374689&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/AIM.2016.7576777
DO - 10.1109/AIM.2016.7576777
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84992374689
T3 - IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, AIM
SP - 264
EP - 269
BT - 2016 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, AIM 2016
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 2016 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, AIM 2016
Y2 - 12 July 2016 through 15 July 2016
ER -