Duncan McLean Staff asked 9 years ago From Robh:
I’m interested in using the KINARM exoskeleton lab to measure maximal voluntary contractions during elbow flexion. I have two quick questions. Firstly, I wanted to ask whether this is a good idea? I’m a little worried that the plastic arm troughs may not be designed with this kind of task in mind, and I wouldn’t want a subject to break them/injure themselves. Secondly, I thought I should ask if there is a pre-existing configuration for this kind of task? If not, could anybody provide some advice on the best way in which to implement it?
Duncan McLean Staff answered 9 years ago The arm troughs are designed to handle the maximum forces that the KINARM Exoskeleton can exert, so that won’t be a problem for you. That said, most people with no impairments will be able to overpower the robots and likely overheat the motors (which will shut off automatically). If you have a specific subject population that has generally low strength then you should be able to take some measurements from them.
Any time you try this sort of experiment it will be important to build in reasonable safeties so that no subject is hurt, ex. reasonable ramp up and down times on forces and some sort of limits for the test angles on the shoulder and elbow so you can tell if someone is overpowering the system or being over powered.
If you’d like some more specific advice please let me know.
Duncan