At the ARM Lab, we're at the cutting edge of robotic research, encompassing Soft Robotics, Bio-inspired Sensors, Rehabilitation Robotics, Human Augmentations, and more. Our core mission is designing advanced robotic platforms, including sensors and actuators, tailored for safe human interaction. Through innovations like rehabilitation aids and exoskeletons, we're shaping the future of human-machine integration.
Surface stiffness plays an important role in human locomotion mechanics. This would affect both the energy expenditure and gait of the human. These effects have been numerically investigated for runners. Such effects, however, have not been fundamentally addressed for other locomotion scenarios such as walking or running. Towards this goal, we designed and developed a novel Treadmill with Adjustable Stiffness (TwAS) with the Ability to Regulate the Vertical Stiffness of the Ground.
Most of these exoskeletons are actuated by geared electromagnetic actuators. Actuators are located at each joint of these exoskeletons in alignment with center of rotation of the corresponding human joints. However, available space at each joint to locate the actuator is limited especially at the ankle join. Furthermore, this traditional way of locating the actuators at the joints limits maneuverability of the wearer.
Current wearable rehabilitation and assistive devices are either 1: powerful and active but bulky and made of rigid elements such as exoskeletons and prosthesis, or 2: flexible and passive but have limited functionalities, such as joint braces. Realizing a wearable rehabilitation technology that is light and soft yet active and powerful has been a grand challenge for researchers due to a persisting gap in current actuation technology: there is still no soft actuator that is portable, i.e.
Human walking gait is touted to be the most efficient biped walking gait. With necessity and purpose determining the varied types of gait that we follow during locomotion, one major factor that controls or differentiates human gaits is Arm Swing. Earlier studies proved that there is 7% reduction in the metabolic cost due to the arm swing.
