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Currently, I think the most frustrating part of this adventure is trying to source the components that I need, only to discover they are in Sweden, or elsewhere in the EU, and they either don't ship to North America or the shipping is horrendous.
Regardless of these setbacks, I think I have settled on an Electric-Hydraulic Actuation solution. It is a beautiful balance of high power and step-motor control... now all I have to do is source them here in North America... getting closer every day.
I have also settled on a I have made some interesting discoveries Exoframe-wise as well:
- There needs to be a compensation mechanism in place to accommodate the shoulder axis upward shift when the arms are raised to the sky - solved
- I need to reduce the weight on the distal segments of the extremities to minimize energy cost: I recently came to the conclusion that the knee does not actually have to be actuated! I can get away with a Knee Acceleration Damper called a Dashpot which I can set to have a free swing forward for energy conservation, but proportionally to load, slow the flexion on the way down in order to keep the knees from buckling. Also the ankle assembly is going to be passive and incorporate a sort of mini-McPherson strut system to store and release energy. I will also rig the Exo spine to have the ability to slightly rotate to facilitate the Contra-Postal swing of the shoulders/arms while walking (Which again conserves energy). The arms will only be actuated for shoulder raise and arm curl/press contractions. The forearm will incorporate a rigid rotational coupling for forearm suppination. This will have some mechanical resistance inherent as opposed to a freely rotating assembly.
More later...
