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Foot-Controlled Supernumerary Robotic Arm: Foot Interfaces And Human Abilities, Brandon William Rudolph

Graduate Theses - Mechanical Engineering

A supernumerary robotic limb (SRL) is a robotic limb that can act as an extra arm or leg for a human user. An unsolved issue with SRLs is how to operate them well. One possibility is to control an SRL with the foot, which offers the benefit of a third arm because the user’s arms remain unoccupied. While hand interfaces are common, foot interfaces are not well understood. Developing a good foot interface is challenging because of differences between feet and hands, such as the larger inertia of the leg. This thesis presents work to determine some design principles for …