The United States of America as Represented by the Administrator of the

Other

California Institute of Technology

Antal K Bejczy

Amir Fijany

Howard C Primus

Robert A Frosch

Susan Jill Harkema

V Reggie Edgerton

James R Weiss

Victor D Scheinman

M Kathleen Day

A robotic exoskeleton and a control system for driving the robotic exoskeleton, including a method for making and using the robotic exoskeleton and its control system. The robotic exoskeleton has sensors embedded in it which provide feedback to the control system. Feedback is used from the motion of the legs themselves, as they deviate from a normal gait, to provide corrective pressure and guidance. The position versus time is sensed and compared to a normal gait profile. Various normal profiles are obtained based on studies of the population for age, weight, height and other variables.

METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATION OF BODY WEIGHT SUPPORT TRAINING (BWST) OF BIPED LOCOMOTION OVER A TREADMILL USING A PROGRAMMABLE STEPPER DEVICE (PSD) OPERATING LIKE AN EXOSKELETON DRIVE SYSTEM FROM A FIXED BASE

In a computer having a large number of single-instruction multiple data (SIMD) processors, each of the SIMD processors has two sets of three individual processor elements controlled by a master control unit and interconnected among a plurality of register file units where data is stored. The register files input and output data in synchronism with a minor cycle clock under control of two slave control units controlling the register file units connected to respective ones of the two sets of processor elements. Depending upon which ones of the register file units are enabled to store or transmit data during a particular minor clock cycle, the processor elements within an SIMD processor are connected in rings or in pipeline arrays, and may exchange data with the internal bus or with neighboring SIMD processors through interface units controlled by respective ones of the two slave control units.

Highly parallel reconfigurable computer architecture for robotic

A Real-time Robotic Controller and Simulator (RRCS) with an MIMD-SIMD parallel architecture for interfacing with an external host computer provides a high degree of parallelism in computation for robotics control and simulation. A host processor receives instructions from, and transmits answers to, the external host computer. A plurality of SIMD microprocessors, each SIMD processor being an SIMD parallel processor, is capable of exploiting fine-grain parallelism and is able to operate asynchronously to form an MIMD architecture. Each SIMD processor comprises an SIMD architecture capable of performing two matrix-vector operations in parallel while fully exploiting parallelism in each operation. A system bus connects the host processor to the plurality of SIMD microprocessors and a common clock provides a continuous sequence of clock pulses. A ring structure interconnects the plurality of SIMD microprocessors and is connected to the clock for providing clock pulses to the SIMD microprocessors and provides a path for the flow of data and instructions between the SIMD microprocessors. The host processor includes logic for controlling the RRCS by interpreting instructions sent by the external host computer, decomposing the instructions into a series of computations to be performed by the SIMD microprocessors, using the system bus to distribute associated data among the SIMD microprocessors, and initiating activity of the SIMD microprocessors to perform the computations on the data by procedure call.

Special purpose parallel computer architecture for real-time control and

A grasp force sensor for robotic hands is disclosed. A flexible block is located in the base of each claw through which the grasp force is exerted. The block yields minute parallelogram deflection when the claws are subjected to grasping forces. A parallelogram deflection closely resembles pure translational deflection, whereby the claws remain in substantial alignment with each other during grasping. Strain gauge transducers supply signals which provide precise knowledge of and control over grasp forces.

Grasp force sensor for robotic hands

A series of independent parallel pairs of light emitting and detecting diodes for a linear pixel array, which is laterally positioned over an edge-like discontinuity in a workpiece to be scanned, is disclosed. These independent pairs of light emitters and detectors sense along intersecting pairs of separate optical axes. A discontinuity, such as an edge in the sensed workpiece, reflects a detectable difference in the amount of light from that discontinuity in comparison to the amount of light that is reflected on either side of the discontinuity. A sequentially sychronized clamping and sampling circuit detects that difference as an electrical signal which is recovered by circuitry that exhibits an improved signal-to-noise capability for the system.

Linear array optical edge sensor

A tactile sensor comprises an array of cells which are covered by an elastic membrane, having an exposed surface which is adapted to come in contact with an object. Light is conducted to each cell from a light source by an optical fiber which terminates at the cell. Reflected light from the cell is conducted by an optical fiber to a light processor, which senses changes in the light received thereby from an ambient level whenever an object comes in contact with the membrane surface above the cell.

Optical fiber tactile sensor

A system is described for guiding a claw to the proper distance and into the proper orientation in yaw and pitch, to engage a grappling fixture. The system includes four proximity sensors on the claw, that are arranged at the corners of an imaginary square, which sense the distance to the top surface of the grappling fixture. If a pair of sensors at opposite corners of the square sense a different distance to the top surface of the grappling fixture, then it is known that the claw is rotated about a corresponding axis with respect to the plane of the grappling fixture.

Growing community of inventors

Pasadena, CA, United States of America

Antal K Bejczy