In recent years, there has been major interest in the exposure to physical therapy during rehabilitation. Several publications have demonstrated its usefulness in clinical/medical and human machine interface (HMI) applications. An automated system will guide the user to perform the training during rehabilitation independently. Advances in engineering have extended electromyography (EMG) beyond the traditional diagnostic applications to also include applications in diverse areas such as movement analysis. This paper gives an overview of the numerous methods available to recognize motion patterns of EMG signals for both isotonic and isometric contractions. Various signal analysis methods are compared by illustrating their applicability in real-time settings. This paper will be of interest to researchers who would like to select the most appropriate methodology in classifying motion patterns, especially during different types of contractions. For feature extraction, the probability density function (PDF) of EMG signals will be the main interest of this study. Following that, a brief explanation of the different methods for pre-processing, feature extraction and classifying EMG signals will be compared in terms of their performance. The crux of this paper is to review the most recent developments and research studies related to the issues mentioned above.
22 September 2014 in Advanced Engineering Materials
The enhancement of fuel economy and the emission of greenhouse gases are the key growing challenges around the globe that drive automobile manufacturers to produce lightweight vehicles. Additionally, the reduction in the weight of the vehicle could contribute to its recyclability and performance (for example crashworthiness and impact resistance). One of the strategies is to develop high-performance lightweight materials by the replacement of conventional materials such as steel and cast iron with lightweight materials. The lightweight composite which is commonly referred to as fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) composite is one of the lightweight materials to achieve fuel efficiency and the reduction of CO2 emission. However, the damage of FRP composite under impact loading is one of the critical factors which affects its structural application. The bumper beam plays a key role in bearing sudden impact during a collision. Polymer composite materials have been abundantly used in a variety of applications such as transportation industries. The main thrust of the present paper deals with the use of high-strength glass fibers as the reinforcing member in the polymer composite to develop a car bumper beam. The mechanical performance and manufacturing techniques are discussed. Based on the literature studies, glass fiber-reinforced composite (GRP) provides more promise in the automotive industry compared to conventional materials such as car bumper beams.