Upper limb exoskeleton design: framework development combining type and dimensional syntheses
This thesis presents the conceptualization, structural synthesis, and dimensional synthesis of a mechanism. The objective is to develop a lightweight, non-intrusive, and kinematically compatible framework capable of working parallelly with human arm movements, with the final goal of integrating this...
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| Formato: | tesis de maestría |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/442785 |
| Acesso em linha: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/442785 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | Robotic exoskeletons Exoesquelets robòtics Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria mecànica |
| Resumo: | This thesis presents the conceptualization, structural synthesis, and dimensional synthesis of a mechanism. The objective is to develop a lightweight, non-intrusive, and kinematically compatible framework capable of working parallelly with human arm movements, with the final goal of integrating this structure into an upper-limb exoskeleton for industrial purposes. The project begins with a comprehensive review of the current state of industrial exoskeletons, identifying their limitations and exploring the reasons behind their limited adoption despite the growing need for support in repetitive and physically demanding tasks. This motivates the development of an improved mechanical solution through systematic design. To achieve this, the study builds on the theoretical foundations of type and dimensional synthesis, integrating concepts from graph theory and motion capture analysis. A motion dataset is collected using inertial sensors to define the desired trajectory, assess anatomical compatibility, and identify workspace constraints and degrees of freedom required by the mechanism. The design process includes the development of three MATLAB scripts to automate the type synthesis phase—searching for viable graph-based topologies that satisfy the Kutzbach-Grübler mobility criterion and user-defined constraints. From the set of valid solutions, the most promising architecture is selected based on mechanical efficiency and simplicity. Dimensional synthesis follows, involving the formulation of kinematic equations and the implementation of an optimization routine in MATLAB. Anthropometric data and recorded motion trajectories are used to calculate optimal link lengths and joint configurations. The objective function minimizes the error between the real and simulated positions of the hand. The results validate the feasibility of the proposed mechanism, offering a kinematically accurate and anatomically compatible solution. This work proposes a structured methodology for the design of exoskeletal mechanisms, which must work in parallel to an existing mechanism, the human one, in order to improve the actual situation of industrial workers. |
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