We developed straight style transfer equipment for a person with disabled legs. It realizes travel in a standing position even on uneven ground, standing-up motion from a chair, and ascending stairs. This equipment comprises three modules: a pair of elastic crutches, a powered lower extremity orthosis, and a pair of mobile platforms. We show the conceptual design of the equipment and the motion of each module. Cooperative operations using three modules are discussed through simulations. We verified travel in a standing position, including rotation, through experiments using prototypes of elastic crutches and mobile platforms.

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This article introduces an instrumented glove and its application for robotic and human-assisted material handling manipulators. In its simplest form, worn by an operator, the sensory glove measures the force the wearer imposes on any part of the material handling robot or the object being maneuvered by the material handling robot. This measured force is then transmitted as radio frequency (RF) signals to the controller of the material handling robot, which in turn maneuvers the load so that the human operator only needs to exert a small portion of the force, leaving the actuator of the system to provide the remaining force required. Therefore, the actuators of the material handling system add exertion only in response to the operator’s hand force on the material handling system, or on the object maneuvered by the robot. Our experimental glove has proven entirely effective in manipulating objects naturally similar to the way we manipulate objects manually without activating many switches and pushbuttons to command the device.

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