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JRM Vol.34 No.6 pp. 1348-1360
doi: 10.20965/jrm.2022.p1348
(2022)

Paper:

Development of a Three-Layer Fabric Mechanism for a Passive-Type Assistive Suit

Chi Lok Wan*, Toshifumi Ishioka**, Chiaki Kanda**, Keisuke Osawa*, Kenji Kodama**, and Eiichiro Tanaka***

*Graduate School of Information, Production and Systems, Waseda University
2-7 Hibikino, Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka 808-0135, Japan

**Asahicho Corporation
110 Fukawa-cho, Fuchu-city, Hiroshima 726-0004, Japan

***Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University
2-7 Hibikino, Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka 808-0135, Japan

Received:
May 20, 2022
Accepted:
October 12, 2022
Published:
December 20, 2022
Keywords:
mechanical design, human evaluation, ergonomics, assistive suit, mechanism
Abstract

This paper proposes a three-layer elastic cloth fabric mechanism for an assistive suit with adjustable structure (based on a two-layer non-adjustable structure) to achieve different assistive force profiles. This increases the assistive force on the lower-back muscle group and alleviates the undesired pre-tension that acts on a user when the rubber belt located on the back is pulled to provide a higher assistive force. With the lower pre-tension, users would not encounter body fatigue as rapidly as in the past. The adjustable feature enables the structure to provide a force that increases gradually to a high level over a short distance without pre-tension. An experiment involving the measurement of muscle activities is conducted to evaluate the variation in assistive force in the lower back by comparing the three-layer suit to the two-layer non-adjustable suit. The experimental results show that the new three-layer structure successfully assists without pre-tension in the lower-back muscle group similar to the two-layer structure with pre-tension. A simple questionnaire is also administered to collect feedback from participants on the differences between the three-layer suit and two-layer suit in terms of wearing perception. Over half of the participants reported that the perception of pre-tension in the three-layer suit is lower than that in the two-layer suit.

Three-layer structure adapted in an assistive suit

Three-layer structure adapted in an assistive suit

Cite this article as:
C. Wan, T. Ishioka, C. Kanda, K. Osawa, K. Kodama, and E. Tanaka, “Development of a Three-Layer Fabric Mechanism for a Passive-Type Assistive Suit,” J. Robot. Mechatron., Vol.34 No.6, pp. 1348-1360, 2022.
Data files:
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