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40Область производства и развития экзоскелетов
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Малюга Олег Владимирович
генеральный директор компании МЕХООМ, oleg@onyxrobot.com
На протяжении всей деятельности человечество сталкивалось с необходимостью поднимать тяжести, в большей выносливости. В настоящее время благодаря научно-техническому прогрессу возможности человека существенно увеличились. Ключевым современным направлением развития продуктивности труда является применение экзоскелетов - специальных костюмов, увеличивающих силу человека посредством внешнего каркаса. Особенностью данных устройств является их незначительный вес и возможность механически повторять движения человека. В настоящее время происходит существенные достижения в области применения экзоскелетов в медицине, армии, радиационной деятельности, строительстве и промышленности. Показало, что солдаты в экзоскелетах в большей степени защищены, и передвигаются с большей скоростью. Также, экзоскелеты существенным образом помогают людям с ограниченными возможностями. В современных условиях необходимо определить возможную область и функциональность применения экзоскелетов для определения возможных направлений развития технологий их производства.
Ключевые слова: экзоскелет, тестирование, деятельность, механические технологии.
Exoskeletons are used in other areas of human activity. They can be worn by builders, emergency workers, firefighters and rescuers. For example, the company ActiveLink, one of the divisions of Panasonic, in 2015 released a series of exoskeletons called Power Loader, which are designed for people working with heavy loads in warehouses and production. Power Loader weighs 40 kg, allows you to lift up to 30 kg of cargo and works autonomously for 26 hours. The price of such exoskeletons is from 5 to 7 thousand US dollars.
Also, this series includes recently released exoskeleton AWN-03, designed specifically for lower back support [Alabdulkarim, 2019, 61]. It automatically detects the user's movement when lifting and holding heavy objects and sends a signal to the motors to rotate the gear. Features of the system is that it raises the upper part of the user's body and as a result reduces the load on the lower back.
Another new suit from Panasonic is called «Ninja» and helps the user to walk and run, for example, in the passage of steep mountain trails and forests [Chen, 2018].
In addition to full-body exoskeletons, limited devices designed to perform specific tasks are increasingly popular. For example, ekzotur from Noonee Chairless Chair lets you sit while standing. The device is suitable for people who spend a long time standing still, for example, for conveyor belt operators, cashiers, supermarket administrators, security guards. When the exoskeleton is activated, shock absorbers are activated, turning it into a comfortable chair that relieves tension in the muscles of the legs and joints. The Chairless Chair frame is made of aluminium and carbon fibre weighing just 2 kg on 6V Battery provides device power for 24 hours.
Materials and methods. Among other devices, we can distinguish the invention from the canadian company Port Hope - ARAIG. This is a special suit for gamers. It allows the owner to physically feel the impact of the game. ARAIG is a jacket that consists of a decoder, exoskeleton and faux leather [Cherni, 2018]. The exoskeleton is built libredigital that make people really feel various in-game effects: bullet hits, shock waves from explosions, rain, the earth shake beneath the treads of tanks, etc. In the collar of this unusual devices hidden 6 speakers. It is also important that ARAIG is compatible with any gaming platform, and its cost does not exceed $ 300.
Exoskeletons are also used successfully in space activities. NASA has in its service an exoskeleton X1, which weighs 25 kg and is designed to keep astronauts in good physical shape in the absence of gravity, providing a load to the muscles and ligaments [Choy, 2019].
Present and future of exoskeletons
Like all robotic devices, exoskeletons face many challenges on their way to perfection. If you disassemble the traditional exoskeleton into its components, you will get a power supply, a mechanical skeleton and software. And if the last two points are clear, the first one presents a serious problem [Goffredo, 2019].
Any of the modern power sources today can provide the exoskeleton only a few hours of battery life. Further the device works either from a wire, or from the solar battery. There are exoskeletons running on non-rechargeable batteries, which often have to be changed. In this regard, the developers are trying to find a suitable power source for exoskeletons in the form of a powerful battery or, oddly enough, wireless power transmission. In the future, this process can be carried out from a large reactor, including a nuclear one [Hondzinski, 2018]. It remains only to invent a way of this transfer.
When it comes to the frame, most exoskeletons are made of aluminum and steel. But it's too heavy materials, which greatly reduce the effectiveness of the suit. Lighter and more durable materials such as titanium or carbon fiber can ensure the exoskeleton's lightness and high performance. These are very expensive materials today, but we hope they will be more available in the future [Huang, 2019].
Results and discussions. The next problem with exoskeletons is drives. Usually the design of robocolum used hydraulic cylinders. They are quite powerful and can work with high accuracy. But these cylinders are very heavy and require hoses and tubes. Pneumatic actuators as well as electronic servos can be the solution to this problem. These mechanisms will work from magnets, consuming a minimum of energy [Jayaraman, 2019].
The control and adjustment of the user's movements are extremely difficult to create an exoskeleton. Typically, sensors read the movements of the human body, and the mechanism responds synchronously to them. But this is not enough. Any random movement can disrupt the synchronization in the control, and the suit can just cripple the user. Therefore, the control components must detect random user movements such as sneezing or coughing in advance so that there is no system failure.
More and more scientists are working on a brain-machine interface that allows you to control the exoskeleton power of thought. A striking example of this is the newly developed brain-computer interface from the Korean University and the Technical University of Berlin.
The interface interacts with the exoskeleton through a special cap on the user's head, recording EEG. Thus, brain signals are read and determine the necessary mode of motion [Koopman, 2018]. This technique allows you to control the exoskeleton even those patients who are deprived of voluntary control over their body. This is a great achievement, and now scientists can only Refine the technology to implement it.
The perception of external loads is provided by the use of an exoskeleton of various types of power drives in the actuator (S). The actuators are controlled by signals from the sensor system receiving information from the operator and actuator. To ensure compliance with various movements of the exoskeleton operator should repeat the biomechanics of human rights.
The exoskeleton belongs to the class of walking robots (SR), characterized by a treelike kinematic structure. Among the most significant advantages of SHR is the ability to move them over rough terrain and the associated relatively low energy consumption. Lever-hinge system when moving does not leave a solid track, as it happens with wheeled and tracked vehicles, which has a positive effect on the energy efficiency of this method of movement. On the other hand, when driving on a relatively flat surface, wheeled and tracked vehicles have undeniable advantages in terms of energy consumption, since, unlike the SR, they are able to move by inertia [Li, 2018]. From this it follows that the use of the exoskeleton is most appropriate in conditions of heavily rugged terrain, as well as in conditions specially created for humans (cabins of various equipment, buildings, rehabilitation, habilitation, etc.). Possible areas and typical exoskeleton scenarios will be discussed in more detail below.
Pioneers in the development of exoskeletons is considered to be the American company General Electric, which created in 1965 exoskeleton Hardiman and Serbian scientist Miomir Vukobratovich (Institute M. Pupin, Belgrade, Yugoslavia), who presented in 1969 exoskeleton, equipped with pneumatic actuators, able to reproduce the gait close to anthropomorphic.
At the beginning of the 21st century, more and more attention was drawn to the development of exoskeletons, and scientists who are engaged in exoskeletons, face a number of difficulties.
First an exoskeleton system developed in the 1960-ies the company «General electric» together with the Ministry of defence of the USA (the prototype of the «Hardiman»), Weight of which amounted to 680 kg, with a load capacity of 340 kg. In him pinned great hopes, but unfortunately, testing in 1965, the design has proved to be bad in production are not included.
There was an experience that allowed the following developers to move on, not to start from scratch. The Hardiman I project was closed in 1971 due to the lack of prospects for its development. This was followed by two decades of «stagnation»: research and development were conducted, but there were no big breakthroughs, probably due to small funding. But experience and knowledge, nevertheless, accumulated. In parallel with this, there were changes in related areas: computer technology, batteries, materials, control systems, etc.All this came in handy when a breakthrough in this area began. And it happened when the exoskeletons again remembered the military [McGibbon, 2018].
Let's imagine all the basic elements of exoskeletons: power supply, software and mechanical skeleton. The last two points are no less serious problem than the power supply.
Scientific works of KubSTU, No 2, 2017 97 the power supply was less voluminous and not so much heated, the engineers could not just make an exoskeleton, but also combine it with a spacesuit and a jetpack.
Advanced exoskeletons have a battery either with a large capacity or with a small capacity and correspondingly small size. Also in most exoskeletons power for certain parts of the system is carried out by special cables. But it brings a lot of inconveniences, because with a small damage to the cable, the entire power system dysfunctions. That is why the best battery is a small power system with a large capacity, protected from mechanical damage [Park, 2019, 12].
Any of the small-sized power supplies today can provide the exoskeleton with a small amount of Autonomous operation. Non-rechargeable and rechargeable batteries are limited to the need for replacement or slow charging, respectively. If we consider internal combustion engines, they should be too reliable, but not particularly compact. In the latter case, you will need an additional cooling system, and the internal combustion engine is difficult to set up for an instant release of a large amount of energy.
The most possible solution to the fuel issue for the exoskeletons of the future may be wireless power transmission. It could solve a lot of questions, because it can be transmitted from any large reactor (including nuclear).
The first exoskeletons were made of aluminum, steel and some other metals. Then they began to use metal alloys, as pure metals were either too heavy and lost their effectiveness, or light, but not strong and could not fully perform their functions. Also not the last factor in the choice of alloys has their cost [Schweighofer, 2018,]. Interested developers are currently searching for light and strong metal alloys. Now opened a new alloy, combining lithium, magnesium, titanium, aluminum and scandium, scientists have a nanocrystalline structure of low density, but with a very high strength.
Scientific works of the Kuban state University, No 2, 2017 99 the development of other, cheaper alternatives. They will be a solid Foundation for the frame, but will be expensive for wide production.
Drives are another important problem in the development of exoskeletons. Hydraulic cylinders are quite powerful and high-precision, but they are heavy and use a large number of tubes and hoses. Pneumatics is easy, but the processing of movements is unstable, as the compressed gas springs.
On the basis of the development of new servos, which will continue to include in its work the magnets and provide a completely precise movement, using a small amount of power and thus of small size. The problem of flexibility will help to cope with the designers of spacesuits, as well as with the adjustment of the size of the suit [Zhang, 2018].
Another problem encountered during the design of the exoskeleton is the management and elimination of unnecessary and unnecessary movements. Equally important is the reaction speed of the parts of the costume to the movement of the user. If there is an unsynchronization of actions, it will lead to a serious health consequence.
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That is, the exoskeleton will have to" feel « and even predict human behavior. To treat unwanted or accidental actions, you can turn to medicine, put the appropriate sensors that respond to the background of the body to a particular action.
Exoskeletons are mainly used for medical and military needs, there are several types of them [Xiao, 2019].
The REWALK exoskeleton was first introduced in 2011 as a disability-oriented one (Fig. 3). In 2013, an update was released - ReWalk Rehabilitation, and in June 2014, the FDA allowed the use of the exoskeleton, giving it the opportunity to develop on a commercial basis. The device weighs about 23.4 kilograms, functions on the Windows operating system and performs three actions: go, sit and stand.
Conclusion. Having considered the features of exoskeletons, we note that this is a real miracle of technology that turns into reality things that were previously impossible. This is not only a tool for obtaining superpowers, but also the last hope for independent walking for a paralyzed person. In addition, any tasks in industry, construction and even space can also be solved through these technologies.
But on the way to mass introduction in our life exoskeletons have to overcome a number of problems, including high cost. We are confident that in the future these devices will be more accessible to ordinary people and will become commonplace, like computers and mobile phones, providing us with life on a new technological level.
The scope of the production and development of exoskeletons Malyuga O.V.
LLC OnyxCom
Throughout our history, a person has always lacked the strength to lift heavy objects, have greater impact strength and endurance. But thanks to science and technology, people were still able to increase their power capabilities. So there were exoskeletons - special costumes that
increase human strength through the outer frame.
The peculiarity of these devices is their lightness and ability to mechanically repeat all human movements. Agree, this is a great and significant achievement in modern technology, which is used in medicine, military purposes, in places with radiation hazards, construction and industry.
With the exoskeleton, the soldier can carry more weapons on him, he is largely protected from enemy bullets, faster and more active in his movements. Since the main forces of the suit takes over, a person saves more energy and, of course, their health. And exoskeleton is useful in medicine. This is just a godsend for the disabled, who have completely lost faith in the fact that they can walk again, and the paralyzed will be able to move their limbs with the power of thought, being in a special suit. In modern conditions it is necessary to determine the possible scope and functionality of the use of exoskeleton to determine the possible directions of development of technologies for their production. Keywords: exoskeleton, testing, activity, mechanical technology.
References
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