A «muscle suit» that will provide muscular support for the paralyzed or those otherwise unable to move unaided is being developed as a wearable robot. The muscle suit consists of a mechanical armor-type frame and McKibben artificial muscle. Using a new link mechanism for the shoulder joint which consists of two half-circle links with four universal joints in total mounted at both ends of each link, all motion for the upper limb has been realized. Applying the muscle suit to non-healthy people such as elderly people and/or disable one requires very high-level safety and usability, from the practical point of view. We then in the first place for the practical use, apply the muscle suit to the manual worker. In this paper, we introduce how we can apply the muscle suit for a manual worker.

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We propose a novel control method for lower- limb assist that produces a virtual modification of the mechanical impedance of the human limbs. This effect is accomplished through the use of an exoskeleton that displays active impedance. The proposed method is aimed at improving the dynamic response of the human limbs, while preserving the user’s control authority. Our goal is to use active-impedance exoskeleton control to improve the user’s agility of motion, for example by reducing the average time needed to complete a movement. Our control method has been implemented in a 1-DOF exoskeleton designed to assist human subjects performing knee flexions and extensions. In this paper we discuss an initial study on the effect of negative exoskeletondamping (a particular case of active-impedance control) on the subject’s time to complete a target-reaching motion. Experimental results show this effect to be statistically significant. On average, subjects were able to reduce the time to complete the motion by 16%.

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Stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability in the world. It causes chronic deficits, such as hemiparesis, especially prevalent in the distal upper extremities. An electro-mechanically driven hand orthosis has been developed to assess the potential thera-peutic use of such devices in rehabilitating hand function. A small Direct Current (DC) brushed motor is used as the main actuator, and a cable-driven glove connected to the motor shaft is the central component of the device. The orthosis control is achieved through a force feedback loop using a miniature load cell attached in series to the cable and control module. The later, generates Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) and direction signals required to drive the motor. The speed is determined by the duty cycle of the PWM signal while the direction by the status of a flag bit modified by a user-operated switch. A portable design was achieved by using a 6 V battery pack as the power supply. The device is ready for use in clinical trials with stroke survivor subjects as it has already been tested on healthy individuals with satisfactory per-formance.

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Using CMU actuators, a Prototype of Mechanical Assistance Device for the Wrist’s Flexion Movement (PMA) was developed and probed in a mechanical model, in order to be implemented in a future as a dynamic powered orthosis or as a rehabilitation assistant instrument. Two Mayor Actuators conformed by three CMU actuators arranged in a series configuration, allows to an artificial hand to be placed in four predefined positions: 0°, 20°, 40° and 60°. The synchronism and control of the actuators is achieved with the Programmable Control Module (PCM). It is capable to drive up to six CMU actuators, and possess two different modes of execution: a Manual mode and an Exercise mode. In the Manual Mode, the position of the hand responds directly to the commands of the keyboard of the front panel, and in the Exercise mode, the hand realizes a repetitive and programmed movement. The prototype was tested in 100 positions in the Manual Mode and for 225 works cycles in the Exercise Mode. The relative repetition error was less than 5% for both test. This prototype only consumes 4,15W, which makes it possible to be powered by small rechargeable batteries, allowing its use as a portable device.

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PAWL (power assist walking leg) represents a high integration of robotics, information technology, communication, control engineering, signal processing and etc. Today, trends in robotics research are changing from industrial applications to non-industrial applications, such as service robots, medical robots, humanoid robots, personal robots and so on. Human ability to perform physical tasks is limited not only by intelligence, but also by physical strength (Kazerooni, 1990). Our research on robot is using mechanism to augment human muscle and capability of sense during walking; synchronously, it can hold human agility and sense of direct operation. The primary task of this project is to develop a power assist walking support leg (shown in Fig.1) which not only amplifies strength of human legs and enhances endurance during walking, but also reduces user inner force.

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