Towards a Hand Exoskeleton for a Smart EVA Glove

In this paper we investigate the key factors associated with the realization of a hand exoskeleton that could be embedded in an astronaut glove for EVA (Extra Vehicular Activities). Such a project poses several and varied problems, mainly due to the complex structure of the human hand and to the extreme environment in which the glove operates. This work provides an overview of existing exoskeletons and their related technologies and lays the ground for the forthcoming prototype realization, by presenting a preliminary analysis of possible solutions in terms of mechanical structure, actuators and sensors

Robust Calibration and Control of Robotic Manipulators

In this paper we present a robust approach for the estimation of the inertial parameters of a robotic manipulator. This approach takes into account the uncertainty in the regression model obtained via the Newton-Euler equations of the robot, and computes an ellipsoid of confidence for the unknown parameters using semidefinite programming (SDP). The obtained information is then exploited in a robust control scheme for the manipulator. Results relative to a two-link planar manipulator are included in the pape