We have developed the exoskeletal robotics suite HAL (Hybrid Assistive Leg) which is integrated with human and assists suitable power for lower limb of people with gait disorder. This study proposes the method of assist motion and assist torque to realize a power assist corresponding to the operator’s intention. In the method of assist motion, we adopted Phase Sequence control which generates a series of assist motions by transiting some simple basic motions called Phase. We used the feedback controller to adjust the assist torque to maintain myoelectricity signals which were generated while performing the power assist walking. The experiment results showed the effective power assist according to operator’s intention by using these control, methods.

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Exploring dance in weightlessness echoes many of the issues raised today in other fields of contemporary art and theory. Weightlessness relates to cyberspace in the sense that there are no privileged directions or hierarchies. But, unlike cyberspace, weightlessness can be physically inhabited, and has the potential to build upon and expand new media art discourses. Weightlessness is inscribed in the limits of the self and the human body, in an inside and an outside that we can see in current technological trends in smart architecture and clothing. French dancer and choreographer Kitsou Dubois pioneered microgravity dance in the early 1990s. She started her career in the 1980s, when contemporary dance was blooming in France. Dubois quickly moved away from the cozy environments and clean horizontal floors of theaters to dance on building facades and in former factories, looking for unusual venues that would help reconsider the different spaces of dance — the architectural space around the dancers, the space created by them, the space between them — and allow for new inquiries about movement. Weightlessness emerged as a logical step in her artistic path.

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The HapticWalker is a robotic walking simulator for neurological gait rehabilitation. The device is based on the end-effector principle, i.e. the patients’ feet are fixed on two footplates, his trunk is secured via a suspension harness. The footplates (end-effectors) of the robot guide the feet of the patient on freely programmable trajectories. Currently two different training modes are provided for each foot trajectory on the HapticWalker. Firstly training trajectories based on real motion capture data can be used. Secondly the vertical center of mass (CoM) motion can be incorporated into the foot trajectory. The latter method leaves the absolute position of the CoM constant, while the relative movement between CoM and feet remains the same as in free walking. Thereby the vertical CoM motion can be actively supported by using a fixed passive suspension, any type of controlled body weight support will then be accomplished via force controlled footplates. To characterize the training on the machine in position controlled mode, muscle activities as well as ground reaction force data of healthy subjects were collected. This article presents preliminary results from the investigation of ground reaction force data of healthy subjects. Therefore data of 10 healthy subjects was used to compare HapticWalker training modes vs. free walking on level ground and upstairs without any assistive devices and the aforementioned two HapticWalker training modes against each other. Amplitude and timing of force peaks during heel strike, foot flat and push off in vertical ground reaction forces were used for the assessment. In spite of a footplate, which does not provide a separate metatarsal joint for relative motion between fore and hind foot, during heel strike and push off the known characteristic peaks at the beginning and the end of the stance phase can be clearly distinguished. Though compared to free walking a slower and premature rise and slower decline of ground reaction for- ces can be seen due to the stiff guidance of the feet in position controlled mode. No significant differences appeared between the two described HapticWalker training modes.

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We have been developing ldquoSmart Suitrdquo as a soft and light-weight wearable power assist system. A prototype for preventing low-back injury in agricultural works and its semi-active assist mechanism have been developed in the previous study. The previous prototype succeeded to reduce about 14% of average muscle fatigues of body trunk in waist extension/flexion motion. In this paper, we describe a prototype of smart suit for supporting waist and knee joint, and its control method for preventing the displacement of the adjustable assist force mechanism in order to keep the assist efficiency.

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