Title: Evaluating wearing mobility of wearable robot mechanisms based on measurement

Authors: Tetsuya Morizono; Shuhei Oda; Takashi Motomura; Kazuya Sakamoto; Shutaro Takeshita; Hiroyuki Matsubara

Addresses: Department of Information and Systems Engineering, Fukuoka Institute of Technology, 3-30-1 Wajiro-Higashi, Higashi-Ku, Fukuoka 811-0295, Japan ' Department of Information and Systems Engineering, Fukuoka Institute of Technology, 3-30-1 Wajiro-Higashi, Higashi-Ku, Fukuoka 811-0295, Japan ' Department of Information and Systems Engineering, Fukuoka Institute of Technology, 3-30-1 Wajiro-Higashi, Higashi-Ku, Fukuoka 811-0295, Japan ' Department of Information and Systems Engineering, Fukuoka Institute of Technology, 3-30-1 Wajiro-Higashi, Higashi-Ku, Fukuoka 811-0295, Japan ' Department of Information and Systems Engineering, Fukuoka Institute of Technology, 3-30-1 Wajiro-Higashi, Higashi-Ku, Fukuoka 811-0295, Japan ' Department of Information and Systems Engineering, Fukuoka Institute of Technology, 3-30-1 Wajiro-Higashi, Higashi-Ku, Fukuoka 811-0295, Japan

Abstract: Improving wearing mobility is an important issue for wearable robot mechanisms to provide a person wearing the mechanism with improved efficiency of a task and comfortable wearing feel. For evaluating the wearing mobility, relative motion between the mechanism and a human limb wearing the mechanism is considered to be a major factor, because the mechanism is usually fixed tightly to the limb for the purpose of motion support. This paper assumes motion support of a human elbow, and considers evaluation of wearing mobility of a human arm based on measurement data obtained by a sensor device. Evaluation under definitions of some indexes is discussed in this paper. In addition, two mechanical designs, one of which is considered to be typical in wearable elbow mechanisms, are evaluated and compared from the viewpoint of wearing mobility. The comparison suggests that a mechanical design with parallel linkages has potential of improving wearing mobility.

Keywords: wearable robots; robot mechanisms; wearing mobility; evaluation; relative motion; mechanical design; elbow motion support; hinge joints; parallel linkages; measurement; electromagnetic sensors; wearer comfort; robot design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSC.2016.082762

International Journal of Space-Based and Situated Computing, 2016 Vol.6 No.4, pp.209 - 220

Received: 18 Aug 2016
Accepted: 07 Oct 2016
Published online: 10 Mar 2017 *

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