33. Exoskeletons for Human Performance Augmentation

Although autonomous robotic systems perform remarkably in structured environments (e.g., factories), integrated human–robotic systems are superior to any autonomous robotic systems in unstructured environments that demand significant adaptation. The technology associated with exoskeleton systems and human power augmentation can be divided into lower-extremity exoskeletons and upper-extremity exoskeletons. The reason for this was twofold; firstly, one could envision a great many applications for either a stand-alone lower- or upper-extremity exoskeleton in the immediate future. Secondly, and more importantly for the division, is that these exoskeletons are in their early stages, and further research still needs to be conducted to ensure that the upper-extremity exoskeleton and lower-extremity exoskeleton can function well independently before one can venture an attempt to integrate them. This chapter first gives a description of the upper-extremity exoskeleton efforts and then will proceed with the more detailed description of the lower-extremity exoskeleton.