Design and Control of Exoskeletons for Planetary Exploration

This paper discusses the development and prototype construction of a powered hand exoskeleton that is designed to fit over the gloved hand of an astronaut. The exoskeleton is designed to offset the stiffness of the pressurized space suit and keep the productive time spent in the space suit from being constrained by hand fatigue. The exoskeleton has a three-finger design. The motions of the hand are monitored by an array of pressure sensors mounted between the exoskeleton and the hand, and the resultant controller commands are determined by a state of the art programmable controller. These commands are then applied to a DC motor array which power the device.