Development of a 3D Printed Bipedal Robot:Towards Humanoid Research Platform to Study Human Musculoskeletal Biomechanics

The objective of this study is to develop a bio robot with a high degree of biomechanical fidelity to the human musculoskeletal system in order to investigate the biomechanical principles underlying human walking.The robot was designed to possess identical biomechanical characteristics to the human body in terms of body segment properties,joint configurations and 3D musculoskeletal geometries.These design parameters were acquired based on the medical images,3D musculoskeletal model and gait measurements of a healthy human subject.To satistyall the design criteria sinultaneously,metal 3D printing was used to construct the whole-body humanoid robot.Flexible artificial muscles were fabricated in accordance with the predefined 3D musculoskeletal geometries.A series of physical tests were con-ducted to demonstrate the capacity of the robot platform.The fabricated robot shows equivalent mechanical characteristics to the human body as originally designed.The results of the physical tests by systematically changing environmental conditions and body structures have successfully demonstrated the capability of the robot platform to investigate the structure-function interplay in the human musculoskeletal system and also its interaction with the environment during walking.This robot might provide a valuable and powerful physical platfornm towards studying hunan musculoskeletal biomechanics by generating new hypotheses and revealing new insights into human locomotion science.

A Review of the Application of Additive Manufacturing in Prosthetic and Orthotic Clinics from a Biomechanical Perspective

Prostheses and orthoses are common assistive devices to meet the biomechanical needs of people with physical disabilities.The traditional fabrication approach for prostheses or orthoses is a materialwasting,time-consuming,and labor-intensive process.Additive manufacturing(AM)technology has advantages that can solve these problems.Many trials have been conducted in fabricating prostheses and orthoses.However,there is still a gap between the hype and the expected realities of AM in prosthetic and orthotic clinics.One of the key challenges is the lack of a systematic framework of integrated technologies with the AM procedure;another challenge is the need to design a prosthetic or orthotic product that can meet the requirements of both comfort and function.This study reviews the current state of application of AM technologies in prosthesis and orthosis fabrication,and discusses optimal design using computational methods and biomechanical evaluations of product performance.A systematic framework of the AM procedure is proposed,which covers the scanning of affected body parts through to the final designed adaptable product.A cycle of optimal design and biomechanical evaluation of products using finite-element analysis is included in the framework.A mature framework of the AM procedure and sufficient evidence that the resulting products show satisfactory biomechanical performance will promote the application of AM in prosthetic and orthotic clinics.