Title: A parallel mechanism and a control strategy based on interactive force using on hip joint power assist

Authors: Yong Yu; Hongbing Tao

Addresses: Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima 8900065, Japan ' Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima 8900065, Japan

Abstract: In this paper, hip joint power assist (HJPA) system is given to offer assistive power to human hip joint. This paper introduces a parallel assisting mechanism and a control strategy based on interactive force between human thigh and the HJPA exoskeleton, and pseudo-compliance control. Different from conventional assisting systems, the assisting mechanism is a 3UPS parallel mechanism which can give its assist to all degrees of freedom (DOFs) of hip joint within its joint workspace. To verify the effectiveness of the parallel mechanism and the control strategy, an experimental platform is constructed, and some correlative experiments have been made. The experimental results show that the proposed HJPA system can work effectively to offer assistive effect to wearers.

Keywords: hip joint power assist; human thigh; HJPA exoskeleton; parallel mechanisms; control strategy; interactive force; pseudo-compliance control; assistive power; hip joints; assistive devices; wearable power assisted devices.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMA.2014.059771

International Journal of Mechatronics and Automation, 2014 Vol.4 No.1, pp.39 - 51

Received: 17 Sep 2012
Accepted: 07 Oct 2013
Published online: 17 Jun 2014 *

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