Title :
Development of a non-exoskeletal structure for a robotic suit
Author :
Tanaka, Hirohito ; Hashimoto, Minoru
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Biosci. & Textile Technol., Shinshu Univ., Nagano, Japan
Abstract :
In recent years, various robots have been developed that can be worn on the body. These can be used to assist older people and people with disabilities by either providing extra power or helping them with walking. These robots usually form an external skeleton around the frame of the body. Although the external skeletal structure has the advantage of supporting the robotic mechanism, an adjustment mechanism to match it to the contours of the wearer´s body is necessary, and this mechanism increases the weight of the robot. In this study, we propose a non-exoskeletal structure that uses the skeletal system of the human body, and develop a lightweight robotic suit that produces few feelings of restriction.
Keywords :
assisted living; geriatrics; handicapped aids; robots; external skeletal structure; external skeleton; lightweight robotic suit; nonexoskeletal structure; older people; people with disabilities; robotic mechanism; robots; skeletal system; Belts; Hip; Joints; Legged locomotion; Robot sensing systems; Thigh;
Conference_Titel :
Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (2014 5th IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Sao Paulo
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4799-3126-2
DOI :
10.1109/BIOROB.2014.6913861