Capstone Khari Evans

Project abstract:

For my capstone I wanted to have a project that was reflective of my interests in engineering. The goal, to create a arm will add 100 lbs lifting capacity to the user. I did this by using a system of pulleys and springs to create a mechanical advantage. By doing this project I now have  deeper understanding of some aspects of physics and about different materials and what I can and cannot do with them. In the end , I created a arm that works.

Bibliography:

http://iqa.evergreenps.org/science/phy_science/ma.html

http://physics.tutorvista.com/forces/pulley.html

http://www.ropebook.com/information/pulley-systems

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T7tGosXM58

http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/engines-equipment/pulley.htm

http://www.homedepot.com/

http://www.ropebook.com/information/pulley-systems

http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/moveable/

Honus. "How to make air muscles!."Instructables. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2014. <http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-air-muscles!/>.

From this site we learned the properties of something we call an Air muscle which is something we came across in another search. Air muscles contract and expand and can be used for to pull 400 times their own weight depending on their size. Many of them even work when wet. Another name for them are acutators.


Chewee. "Pneumatic Muscles." Instructables. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. <http://www.instructables.com/id/Pneumatic-Muscles/>.

Pneumatic Muscles are another kind of air muscles they can be used for even more things because they can come in different shapes. They can be used in pulleys and also work when wet and even under small amounts of damage


Mikey. "Air Muscles: Make an Artificial Muscle Robot Controller." Instructables. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. <http://www.instructables.com/id/Air-Muscles-Make-an-Artificial-Muscle-Robot-Contr/>.

This is a instructable for a complex system of air muscles that are all controlled through a system of circuit board. The muscles can be monitored using the circuits and also operated the same way. We mostly wanted to observe a complex system from this link even though we don't plan to make a circuit board in our own.


Krasnow, Ben. "Tutorial: How to build an air muscle and use it in a force-feedback joystick." YouTube. YouTube, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkaVsoEd6Vo>.

This is another application of air muscles which is what we are really set on using at this point. In this video someone made a very simple air muscle in a joystick and how the system can be measured and used in a plane or helicopter


Daerdan , Frank, and Dirk Lefeber . "Pneumatic artificial muscles: Actuators for Robotics and Automation ." Publications of Brussels University Department of Mechanical Enginering. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2014. <http://lucy.vub.ac.be/publications/Daerden_Lefeber_EJMEE.pdf>.

This is a publication of a document about the effects of a pneumatic muscle and how the displacement of the muscle works.


"Air Muscle." Air Muscle. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. <http://www.efunda.com/sponsors/inventables/AirMuscle/AirMuscle_Intro.cfm#PageTop>.

Air muscles mirror what human muscles do. Air muscles, similar to actual muscles can only pull when air is pushed into them and aren't really meant for pushing. Another muscle or alternative needs to be used to create a force in the opposite direction.


"High power military robotic Exoskeleton." YouTube. YouTube, 26 Nov. 2007. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hkCcoenLW4>.

This video is a purposefully made leak of military tech that utilizes hydraulic pumps and pneumatic muscles in an entire suit that can move cargo a lot more efficiently then people ny themselves.


Channel, Intel. "Student-designed Upper-body Exoskeleton Provides Augmented Strength." YouTube. YouTube, 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D184ntU5XFw>.

This was done by students at UPenn, and this is a more complex version of what we hope to accomplish in our own exo-skeletal mechanical advantage. This arm is lightweight and can give the user an addition 40 pounds of force that they are able to carry.


"Titan Arm." Titan Arm. University of Pennsylvania, n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. <http://titanarm.com>.

This is the website from the video above that shows discussions with the studentsand more examples of the way the arm can be used. The arm itself, is something that doesn't wrap around the arm like some other designs we have observed.


"Arm and Hand." Mars Science Laboratory:. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. <http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/rover/arm/>.

The robotic arm used on a rover has the same three joints as that of a human arm and can move almost just as much. It isn't an exoskeleton in anyway but it was useful for seeing how inanimate objects can mimicking humans.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_artificial_muscles






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