A portable load lifting assist system (100) includes a movable support structure including an exoskeleton torso (160) including an exoskeleton trunk (109) that is configured to be coupled to a person’s upper body, and a load lifting mechanism (221) secured to the movable support structure including a winch (229) having a motor driven reel mechanism for reeling first and second lifting straps or cables (222) that are secured to first and second end effectors (223). First and second handles (224) are attached to an outside surface of the first and second end effectors, wherein the lifting straps or cables when driven by the winch lift a load contacted by the first and second end effectors. A lower extremity exoskeleton (120) is configured to be coupled to a person’s lower limbs. The exoskeleton trunk couples to the person’s upper body through an upper body interface device (150) that is coupled to the lower extremity exoskeleton.

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Provided is a walking motion assisting device capable of assisting a leg of an agent in walking motion to alleviate an assisting burden or eliminate an assisting necessity by a caregiver. According to the walking motion assisting device (1), the value of a persistent energy input term (ζ0) contained in a simultaneous differential equation denoting a second model configured to generate a second motion oscillator (φ1) is adjusted so as to limit a landing position (x) of a leg of the agent in a specified range [x1, x2]. Further, the motion state of the leg is recognized on the basis of a variation mode of a second oscillator (ξ2), and on the basis of the recognition result, the relative motion between the thigh and crus of the leg around the knee joint is assisted.

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Recently, many developed countries have begun to experience the problems associated with an aging society. One problem in particular is the growing number of older adults in the labor force who suffer from various physical restrictions. Aiming to develop technology to assist these individuals, our laboratory has proposed a wire suspension-type power assist system that amplifies the force applied by the user. This system can be used even by older adults with insufficient strength for controlling the position and the configuration of heavy objects. The power assist system currently being developed in our laboratory uses a load cell to detect simultaneously both the force applied to the object by the user and the weight of the object. Therefore, the weight of the object is limited due to the signal-to-noise ratio (i.e., the ratio of the applied force to the weight of the object). Thus, we propose a new system that estimates the force applied to the object on the basis of the ground reaction force. This paper presents a model of the force applied by a human hand which is based on the ground reaction force. Then, the validity of the model is verified through simulation and experiment. As a result, it is confirmed that the force applied by a user can be estimated from the ground reaction force.

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