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Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Exoskeletons - Designing For Social Justice, Grace Cd Murphy
Exoskeletons - Designing For Social Justice, Grace Cd Murphy
College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program
Many engineering professionals believe that discussions surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and social justice do not belong in engineering because engineering is supposed to be a neutral or objective field. Through an extensive review of the literature and a survey sent out to potential users, the need for DEI in engineering was examined. Many current engineering projects do not take into consideration social justice principles which leaves certain groups further marginalized and disempowered while empowering a select few. Engineering has the opportunity to be a field of service, but first risks and benefits must be weighed and the outcome …
Upper Limb Tensegrity Exoskeleton, Emily Mendyke, Sha'anan Levy, Alan Zhang
Upper Limb Tensegrity Exoskeleton, Emily Mendyke, Sha'anan Levy, Alan Zhang
College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program
Tensegrity structures are composed of stiff rods and elastic cables suspended in a flexible tension network. Their inherent properties have several key advantages when used in assistive medical devices such as supportive braces or rehabilitation exoskeletons: 1) the lightweight and natural compliance reduces the power consumption required to operate the system; 2) the system stiffness and pretension can be individually tuned to accommodate the user’s needs; and 3) the impact-resistant properties can protect users in the event of collisions and falls. This project explores the design space of assistive tensegrity devices to augment human dexterity in the upper limb. Suitable …