S. Parasuraman

Forearm pressure distribution during ambulation with elbow crutches

This paper studies the pressure distribution on the forearm and the hand palm during ambulation with forearm crutches. It also presents the design, modelling and development of a forearm crutch that is capable of eliminating the high pressure induced on patients palm and forearm areas while gating; preventing other injuries to the nerves and muscles of the mentioned extremities. Eventually, one of the main objective of conducting this project is to make the patients feel less tired and more comfortable during crutch-aided ambulation. The design of the crutch is drawn using CATIA software, a CAD modelling package. The study on the developed design is to prove that it is of high quality and is more comfortable compared to available regular forearm crutches. It is developed using two experimental methods, namely: Energy Expenditure Index (EEI) and Electromyography (EMG). The experiments related to the mentioned methods have been conducted with the help of 10 healthy/normal volunteers. Also the crutch parts have been simulated using COMSOL Multiphysics Software. Lastly, a survey was prepared and its results are also provided in accordance with the way the patients feel about the developed design. The results of all four methods mentioned, show that the focal pressure on the patients hand and forearm has been significantly reduced; also, the energy expenditure level has been dropped. It can be concluded that the developed crutch is of high quality and is more comfortable compared to regular forearm crutches.

A Particle Swarm Optimization-PID controller of a DC Servomotor for Multi-Fingered Robot Hand

In the construction of robot applications, controller is very important in producing good performance the robot system. This paper presents the modeling and simulation of multi fingered robot hand (MFRH) with the conventional and modern controllers where the output responses have been analyzed. A swarm algorithm known as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) has been used to find optimum solutions in a large search space. Simulation of modern controller (PSO-PID) has produced better results than the conventional controller in terms of system parameters such as rise time, settling time steady state error and maximum overshoot in the DC Servomotor speed control MFRH.

Harmonics analysis in a DC-DC converter based line frequency inverter for domestic lighting loads

This paper presents harmonics improvement in a DC-DC converter based line frequency inverter for domestic lighting loads. Harmonics problem in power electronics converters is not a new phenomenon as over the decade succeeded in effecting our power output. It is also recognized to be a problem that would destabilize the reliability of power system, to overcome this problem, the design of a suitable filter must be implemented. For this project, a LC Low Pass filter has been chosen to reduce the harmonics in the system to get a 5W power output. The input voltage is a DC battery having power capacity of 24W, 6V DC has been chosen as the input DC voltage and it will be stepped up to 12V DC using the push-pull converter. A voltage regulator circuit is installed to regulate the voltage to the microcontroller chip PIC16F877A that has been used as the main control unit for this project having the capability to generate Pulse Width Modulation (PMW) signals to drive the MOSFET turn ON and OFF. The 12V DC will be inverted to 220V AC using the line frequency inverter. The bulb having the power capacity of 6W is used as the output lighting loads.

Performance analysis of a drive system for electrical vehicle application

The field of electrical engineering is now being widely used in vehicle technology. The current demand of high electrical power owing to increase in electrical vehicle and the pressure on automobile markers to reduce emission levels have brought the usage of power converters and electric drives to the frontline in automation and robotic industries. This research aims to discuss the design and control scheme of an electric drive for vehicle application. The control system are many, however the use of vector control has been emphasized in this research as a method of control. A drive has been proposed and the simulation for the inverter part shows how the achievement of speed controls is done.

Plantar pressure distribution and gait stability: Normal VS high heel

In this paper, the plantar pressure distribution and the center of pressure movement were studied and gait stability of high heels versus normal heels was observed. A group of ten young female participants without any previous lower limbs injuries were asked to wear shoes of different heel heights, namely, 0cm, 2cm and 4cm and walk at a speed of 3km/hr on a treadmill. The pressure that their body exerts on the ground was recorded and analyzed. A statistical analysis was conducted and observed for the center of pressure (p<0.05), peak pressure (p<0.05) and the gait stability. The center of pressure moved from the heel to toe as heel height was increased and the peak pressure moved to the forefoot region. Tukey post-hoc analysis was performed in order to observe the differences in peak pressure in the forefoot, mid-foot and rear foot region. It was found that as the subjects wore a 4cm heel height shoes, the peak pressure was increased in the rear foot regions of the right foot. This resulted from the fact that they tend to lean on their right foot owing to instability during gait.

Mobile robot path planning using Ant Colony Optimization

Ant colony optimization (ACO) technique is proposed to solve the mobile robot path planning (MRPP) problem. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of ACO in solving the MRPP problem, several maps of varying complexity used by an earlier researcher is used for evaluation. Each map consists of static obstacles in different arrangements. Besides that, each map has a grid representation with an equal number of rows and columns. The performance of the proposed ACO is tested on a given set of maps. Overall, the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach for path planning.

Home-based interactive rehabilitation system for hand

A hand home-based rehabilitation system which is interactive, portable and affordable, equipped with the ability in qualitative and quantitative diagnosis on muscle performance and strength is reported in this paper. The therapy system utilizes the concept of game-based therapy which aims to develop interest of patient. The hardware input module has a compact joypad input design with wireless connectivity to promote portability. The system is designed using open-source platform, Adobe Flash Builder. The system introduces activities which is task oriented or with basic games which is derived from Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) for the purpose of assessing muscle performance. The final design also includes the ability to diagnose muscle strength using electromyography measurement test (EMG).