Design and Experimental Verification of a Pantograph-Based Mechanism for Lower Limb Load Reduction by Compensating for Upper Body Weight

Shotaro Mamiya; Tomoya Takahashi; Naoki Uchiyama

doi:10.20965/jrm.2018.p0033

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JRM Vol.30 No.1 pp. 33-42

doi: 10.20965/jrm.2018.p0033

(2018)

Paper:

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Design and Experimental Verification of a Pantograph-Based Mechanism for Lower Limb Load Reduction by Compensating for Upper Body Weight

Shotaro Mamiya, Tomoya Takahashi, and Naoki Uchiyama

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology
1-1 Hibarigaoka, Tempaku, Toyohashi, Aichi 441-8580, Japan

Received:

September 16, 2016

Accepted:

August 5, 2017

Published:

February 20, 2018

Keywords:

power assist suit, pantograph mechanism, body weight compensation

Abstract

Several extant studies examine the design of power assist systems that support leg motion of the wearer. However, in most cases, actuators are always required to support the upper body weight of a wearer. This support reduces power efficiency, and thus, a new mechanism is required to effectively support upper body weight. This paper proposes a design of a lower limb load reduction device that uses a pantograph mechanism. In the mechanism, leg motion can be separated into horizontal and vertical motions, and only the lower limb load that is caused by vertical motion and the wearer’s own weight is compensated by the actuators. Additionally, the design enables support of upper body weight only in the support leg phase, and actuators are not used in the lifted leg phase. The design principle is described, and experimental results subsequently demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design.

Proposed experimental pantograph-based mechanism

Cite this article as:

S. Mamiya, T. Takahashi, and N. Uchiyama, “Design and Experimental Verification of a Pantograph-Based Mechanism for Lower Limb Load Reduction by Compensating for Upper Body Weight,” J. Robot. Mechatron., Vol.30 No.1, pp. 33-42, 2018.

Data files:

References

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This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationa License.

[1] [1] T. Hayashi, H. Kawamoto, and Y. Sankai, “Control Method of Robot Suit HAL Working as Operator’s Muscle using Biological and Dynamical Information,” Proc. IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 3063-3068, 2005.

[2] [2] Y. Sankai, “HAL: Hybrid Assistive Limb Based on Cybernics,” Robotics Research: The 13th Int. Symp., pp. 25-34, 2010.

[3] [3] Y. Muraoka and E. Saitoh, “Development of Wearable Power Assist Locomotor,” J. of the Robotics Society of Japan, Vol.26, No.8, pp. 878-880, 2008 (in Japanese).

[4] [4] E. Tanaka, T. Ikehara, Y. Sato, H. Yusa, K. Ito, S. Saegusa, K. Nakagawa, Y. Aokage, and L. Yuge, “Development of a Walking Assistance Apparatus Without Fixation on Legs and Study on the Assistance Effectiveness with Electromyography,” Trans. of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers Series C, Vol.77, No.775, pp. 1119-1132, 2011 (in Japanese).

[5] [5] K. Yamamoto, K. Hyodo, M. Ishii, and T. Matsuo, “Development of Power Assisting Suit for Assisting Nurse Labor,” Trans. of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers Series C, Vol.67, No.657, pp. 1499-1506, 2001 (in Japanese).

[6] [6] G. Tsuchiya, O. Oyama, and T. Yoshimitsu, “Development of Pneumatic Assist System for Human Walk,” Proc. Autumn Conf. of Japan Fluid Power System Society 2003, pp. 93-95, 2003 (in Japanese).

[7] [7] H. Kobayashi, “Technology for Supporting Human Motion: Development of a Muscle Suit,” J. of Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence, Vol.20, No.5, pp. 564-571, 2005 (in Japanese).

[8] [8] S. Shirata, “Design, Development and Evaluation of a Biped Humanoid Robot Equipped with a Gravity Compensation Mechanism in the Legs,” Tohoku University Ph.D. Thesis, 2007 (in Japanese).

[9] [9] Y. Sugawara, “Development of Bipedal Locomotor with Parallel Mechanism – 5th Report: Support Torque Reduction Mechanism for Lower Power Consumption and Heavier Load –,” Proc. the 22nd Annual Conf. of Robotics Society of Japan, 1K32, 2004 (in Japanese).

[10] [10] Y. Yamada and T. Morita, “Leg Joints Torque Compensation Mechanism for Legged Locomotion (Problem Analysis and Development of Mechanism),” Trans. of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers Series C, Vol.79, No.802, pp. 2013-2024, 2013 (in Japanese).

[11] [11] The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, “Kinematics of Machinery,” The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, p. 155, 2007 (in Japanese).

[12] [12] Y. Taniai, T. Naniwa, Y. Takahashi, and M. Kawai, “Evaluation of Power-Assist System by Computer Simulation,” J. Adv. Comput. Intell. Intell. Inform., Vol.20, No.3, pp. 477-483, 2016.