Three level innovation of the powered above elbow prosthetic arm using pneumatic artificial muscles

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Date
2011
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Alabama Libraries
Abstract

This thesis presents a novel above elbow prosthetic arm design, innovating on three different levels: the actuation method, system integration, and the mechanism design. The Chemo-Muscle actuation system expands pneumatic artificial muscles to mobile applications. The integrated design makes use of the internal dead space of the muscle, incorporating external components and reducing fuel consumption. A novel design is presented using smaller muscles to control multiple degrees of freedom, providing 50% more strength than other prosthetic arms and an excellent range of motion for each degree of freedom. A simple control method is proven and the future development is discussed.

Description
Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
Keywords
Mechanical engineering, Robotics, Biomedical engineering
Citation