| A correct kinematics model for human upper limb that gives all the information about the workspaceand relation between joints and links at any configuration is a fundamental step for human motionintegration in real/augmented environment. This information can also be used for designing exter-nal tools that can improve human capabilities. The augmented environments include a spectrum ofresearch areas such as exoskeletons, medical robots, prosthetic limbs, robotic manipulators and hu-manoids. This dissertation aims at studying the upper limb of human body in terms of kinematicsand using this knowledge to construct, augment and simulate the limb counterparts in real and vir-tual worlds. This work begins with the description of fundamental issues in kinematics of human up-per limb which includes the joints types and numbers as well as the workspace and its dimension. Bypoint synthesis approach, a parallel robot to simulate the human shoulder complex workspace is sug-gested. Following a task-based approach to design a mechanism to simulate shoulder complex motions,a method to design exoskeleton as a systematic way is introduced. This work investigates the possibil-ity of the use of virtual reality (VR) in rehabilitation in order to find out the effects of an immersingenvironment consisting of intractable objects on healthy and unhealthy patients. Moreover, a VR ap-plication to do dimensional synthesis for serial robots and hand structures is created. This enables therobot designers to modify the design parameters in real-time so a better model is achieved. As the lastpart of this research, AR is going to be investigated in an attempt to bridge between Robotics and aug-mented world where the users can perceive the robot’s state, task and information in a safer, faster andnatural way. The outcome of this research will suggest a model for human upper limb with a more pre-cise mechanism for shoulder complex. The development of new solutions in virtual reality may providea comprehensive platform for robot designers as well as an immersive environment for physical therapypurposes. Finally, the assessment of the work done and the description of the research to be completedare included.xv
Key Words: Kinematics, Human Shoulder Complex, Parallel Manioulators, Virtual Reality, Ex-oskeleton, Augmented Reality. |