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Actuators
Special Issues
Low-Profile Compliant Actuators for Wearable Devices
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Low-Profile Compliant Actuators for Wearable Devices

A special issue of Actuators (ISSN 2076-0825).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2019) | Viewed by 12294

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ana Luisa Trejos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B9, Canada
Interests: Design, integration and evaluation of mechatronic devices and systems for surgery, therapy and rehabilitation. This includes the development of smart devices for minimally invasive surgery and the design of wearable devices for the treatment of chronic pain, including sensor and actuator design
Dr. Aaron David Price

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B9, Canada
Interests: smart material actuators and sensors; mechatronic systems for industrial automation and biomedical applications; additive manufacturing of advanced materials; conductive electroactive polymers and composites; magnetic and thermal shape memory materials; advanced biomedical technologies for better health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mechatronic wearable devices for health, sports training, or gaming applications are being more widely developed. However, current actuator technologies limit the minimization of the overall size and weight of these devices, preventing innovation into truly unobtrusive wearable form factors that are also effective and comfortable. This Special Issue is aimed at highlighting recent contributions to the development of low-profile compliant actuators which are required to advance this field further. Contributions are particularly encouraged in the following areas: investigation of new materials, development of new actuator configurations, and methods for more accurately controlling existing low profile actuators, among others.

Dr. Ana Luisa Trejos
Dr. Aaron David Price
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Actuators is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Compliant actuators
  • Unobtrusive actuators
  • Actuator design
  • Smart material actuators
  • Wearable technology

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

28 pages, 2940 KiB  
Review
A Review on the Control of the Mechanical Properties of Ankle Foot Orthosis for Gait Assistance
by Dimas Adiputra, Nurhazimah Nazmi, Irfan Bahiuddin, Ubaidillah Ubaidillah, Fitrian Imaduddin, Mohd Azizi Abdul Rahman, Saiful Amri Mazlan and Hairi Zamzuri
Actuators 2019, 8(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/act8010010 - 28 Jan 2019
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 11827
Abstract
In the past decade, advanced technologies in robotics have been explored to enhance the rehabilitation of post-stroke patients. Previous works have shown that gait assistance for post-stroke patients can be provided through the use of robotics technology in ancillary equipment, such as Ankle [...] Read more.
In the past decade, advanced technologies in robotics have been explored to enhance the rehabilitation of post-stroke patients. Previous works have shown that gait assistance for post-stroke patients can be provided through the use of robotics technology in ancillary equipment, such as Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO). An AFO is usually used to assist patients with spasticity or foot drop problems. There are several types of AFOs, depending on the flexibility of the joint, such as rigid, flexible rigid, and articulated AFOs. A rigid AFO has a fixed joint, and a flexible rigid AFO has a more flexible joint, while the articulated AFO has a freely rotating ankle joint, where the mechanical properties of the AFO are more controllable compared to the other two types of AFOs. This paper reviews the control of the mechanical properties of existing AFOs for gait assistance in post-stroke patients. Several aspects that affect the control of the mechanical properties of an AFO, such as the controller input, number of gait phases, controller output reference, and controller performance evaluation are discussed and compared. Thus, this paper will be of interest to AFO researchers or developers who would like to design their own AFOs with the most suitable mechanical properties based on their application. The controller input and the number of gait phases are discussed first. Then, the discussion moves forward to the methods of estimating the controller output reference, which is the main focus of this study. Based on the estimation method, the gait control strategies can be classified into subject-oriented estimations and phase-oriented estimations. Finally, suggestions for future studies are addressed, one of which is the application of the adaptive controller output reference to maximize the benefits of the AFO to users. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Profile Compliant Actuators for Wearable Devices)
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