Stability and performance of robotic systems worn by humans

The dynamics and control of robotic systems worn by humans are analyzed. General models for the human, the extender, and the interaction between the human and the extender are developed. The stability of the system of human, extender, and object being manipulated is analyzed, and the conditions for stable maneuvers are derived. An expression for the extender performance is defined to quantify the force augmentation. The tradeoff between stability and performance is described. The theoretical predictions are verified experimentally.<<ETX>>