The system is targeted at persons with hemiplegia. In case of Hemiplegia, the person usually uses a cane in the unaffected arm (contralateral to the affected leg) to support body weight and balance [25,26]. Therefore, we propose to utilize an instrumented cane ,forearm-type crutch, as a part of the interface with the robot. We equip the cane with motion and force sensors to capture its motion, while it is still supportive for the user’s balance and somatosesnory as a traditional walking aid.Instrumented CaneThe cane as a walking aid does not only provide biomechanical support but also an augmentation to somatosensory, and therefore leads to enhanced posture control.
John J Jeka [27] showed in a series of studies that ��sensory input to the hand and arm through contact cues at the fingertip or through a cane can reduce postural sway in individuals who have no impairments and in persons without a functioning vestibular s
Radio frequency switches are applied in wireless communication systems [1]. Compared with solid-state RF switches, the benefits of micromachined RF switches are low insertion loss, excellent isolation, and high linearity at microwave frequencies [2,3]. Recently, several micromachined switches have been fabricated using microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology. For instance, Czaplewski et al. [4] presented a RF MEMS switch design that improved lifetimes in cycled switches. The implementation of RuO2-Au contact metallurgy into the switch improved the lifetime of the switch, which was cycled to 10 billion cycles with a resistance of less than 4 ��.
The insertion loss and isolation of the RF switch were 0.4 dB and 28.0 dB at 10 GHz, respectively. Zhu et al. [5] employed the MetalMUMPs process to fabricate a lateral dc-contact RF MEMS switch for ultrabroadband applications. A bidirectional cascaded electrothermal actuator was designed to drive the Cilengitide switch. The RF switch had an insertion loss of 0.5 dB at 40 GHz and an isolation of 22.5 dB at 40 GHz. Park et al. [6] used the sacrificial bulk micromachining process to manufacture a RF MEMS switch for 24 GHz radar applications. The switch was actuated by comb-drive actuators, and it was a capacitive shunt type. The actuation voltage of the RF switch was 25 V. The RF switch had an insertion loss of 0.29 dB at 24 GHz and an isolation of 30.1 dB at 24 GHz. K��geler et al.
[7] proposed a silicon based micromachined switch with piezo-electrically actuated elements. The switch consisted of two piezoelectric activated beams with a coplanar waveguide (CPW). The clamped-clamped beams were established by a thin PZT film between thin Pt electrodes on top of a SiO2 layer, and the CPW was made by the electroplated copper. The switch had an actuation voltage of 10 V and an isolation of 20 dB at 15 GHz. Chang et al.