Semi-endoskeleton-type waist assist AB-wear suit equipped with compressive force reduction mechanism

Inose, Hiroki; Mohri, Satoshi; Arakawa, Hirokazu; Okui, Manabu; Koide, Katsuya; Yamada, Yasuyuki; Kikutani, Isao; Nakamura, Taro

doi:10.1109/icra.2017.7989711

Cited by 39 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…For this reason, they are considered to be potentially more versatile (relying on underlying control strategies, as expanded in Section "Control Strategies"). Most active exoskeletons use electric motors, but examples of pneumatic actuation exist (e.g., Muscle Suit (Aida, Nozaki, & Kobayashi, 2009), AB-Wear (Inose et al, 2017)). Electric motors are used in combination with reduction gears to achieve the necessary forces/torques.…”

Section: Activementioning

confidence: 99%

“…exoskeletons. Another example of a combined device is the AB-Wear (Inose et al, 2017), which is a soft device augmented with a "compressive force reduction mechanism," The latter consists of a flat spring and "McKibben-type" artificial pneumatic muscles in parallel. In contrast to the use of carbon fiber rods in the Lowe's/Virginia Tech exoskeleton and SPEXOR, a torque is generated in the AB-Wear by artificial pneumatic muscles.…”

Section: Combinations Of Soft and Rigid Componentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Back-Support Exoskeletons for Occupational Use: An Overview of Technological Advances and Trends

Toxiri

Näf

Lazzaroni

et al. 2019

IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors

149

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OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONS Many new occupational back-support exoskeletons have been developed in the past few years both as research prototypes and as commercial products. These devices are intended to reduce the risk of lowerback pain and injury for workers in various possible application sectors, including assembly in automotive and aerospace, logistics, construction, healthcare, and agriculture. This article describes the technologies adopted for back-support exoskeletons and discusses their advantages and drawbacks. Such an overview is intended to promote a common understanding and to encourage discussion among different stakeholders such as developers, ergonomics practitioners, customers, and workers. TECHNICAL ABSTRACT Background: The large prevalence and risk of occupational lower-back pain and injury associated with manual material handling activities has raised interest in novel technical solutions. Wearable back-support exoskeletons promise to improve ergonomics by reducing the loading on the lumbar spine. Purpose: Since many new prototypes and products are being developed, this article presents an up-to-date overview of the different technologies. By discussing the corresponding advantages and drawbacks, the objective is to promote awareness and communication among developers, ergonomics practitioners, customers, and factory workers. Methods: The state-of-the-art is presented with a focus on three technological aspects: (i) the actuators generating assistive forces/torques, with a main distinction between passive and active devices; (ii) the structures and physical attachments that transfer those forces/torques to the user, with structures being soft, rigid, or a combination of the two; and (iii) the control strategies employed (i.e., how devices adjust assistive forces/torques to accommodate different activities and parameters). Discussion: The choice of actuation technology may determine the applicability of a device to different scenarios. Passive exoskeletons appear more suitable for tasks requiring relatively light assistance and little dynamic movements. By contrast, heavier and more dynamic tasks will justify the use of more complex active exoskeletons. While onboard battery power is increasingly present on active exoskeletons, the tradeoff between power autonomy and additional battery mass will probably depend on the

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Section: Activementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Combinations Of Soft and Rigid Componentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Back-Support Exoskeletons for Occupational Use: An Overview of Technological Advances and Trends

Toxiri

Näf

Lazzaroni

et al. 2019

IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors

149

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In a research project at Aalborg University, the model-based optimization approach, e.g., was applied for a passive shoulder orthosis to adapt spring stiffnesses for lowering muscle activities of the shoulder complex [22]. Further research studies, which follow the same approach, can be found [23][24][25].…”

Section: Model-based Exoskeleton Design Optimization and Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomechanical Model-Based Development of an Active Occupational Upper-Limb Exoskeleton to Support Healthcare Workers in the Surgery Waiting Room

Tröster

Wagner

Müller-Graf

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Occupational ergonomics in healthcare is an increasing challenge we have to handle in the near future. Physical assistive systems, so-called exoskeletons, are promising solutions to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Manual handling like pushing, pulling, holding and lifting during healthcare activities require practical and biomechanical effective assistive devices. In this article, a musculoskeletal-model-based development of an assistive exoskeleton is described for manual patient transfer in the surgery waiting room. For that purpose, kinematic data collected with an experimental set-up reproducing real patient transfer conditions are first used to define the kinetic boundary conditions for the model-based development approach. Model-based analysis reveals significant relief potential in the lower back and shoulder area of the musculoskeletal apparatus. This is corroborated by subjective feedback collected during measurements with real surgery assistants. A shoulder–arm exoskeleton design is then proposed, optimized and evaluated within the same simulation framework. The presented results illustrate the potential for the proposed design to reduce significantly joint compressions and muscle activities in the shoulder complex in the considered patient transfer scenarios.

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“…Complex forms of movement focus on localized body behavior. A BTS covers a range of positions for wearable devices according to behavioral characteristics, such as a head controller [91,92], smart gloves [93,94], an exoskeleton for the waist [95,96,97], and smart shoes [98,99]. In addition, smart textiles provide possibilities for behavior recognition.…”

Section: Systematic Analysis Of Framework Unitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic Analysis of a Military Wearable Device Based on a Multi-Level Fusion Framework: Research Directions

Shi

Zhang

Liu

et al. 2019

Sensors

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With the development of the Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT), soldiers have become key nodes of information collection and resource control on the battlefield. It has become a trend to develop wearable devices with diverse functions for the military. However, although densely deployed wearable sensors provide a platform for comprehensively monitoring the status of soldiers, wearable technology based on multi-source fusion lacks a generalized research system to highlight the advantages of heterogeneous sensor networks and information fusion. Therefore, this paper proposes a multi-level fusion framework (MLFF) based on Body Sensor Networks (BSNs) of soldiers, and describes a model of the deployment of heterogeneous sensor networks. The proposed framework covers multiple types of information at a single node, including behaviors, physiology, emotions, fatigue, environments, and locations, so as to enable Soldier-BSNs to obtain sufficient evidence, decision-making ability, and information resilience under resource constraints. In addition, we systematically discuss the problems and solutions of each unit according to the frame structure to identify research directions for the development of wearable devices for the military.

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Semi-endoskeleton-type waist assist AB-wear suit equipped with compressive force reduction mechanism

Cited by 39 publications

References 5 publications

Back-Support Exoskeletons for Occupational Use: An Overview of Technological Advances and Trends

Back-Support Exoskeletons for Occupational Use: An Overview of Technological Advances and Trends

Biomechanical Model-Based Development of an Active Occupational Upper-Limb Exoskeleton to Support Healthcare Workers in the Surgery Waiting Room

Systematic Analysis of a Military Wearable Device Based on a Multi-Level Fusion Framework: Research Directions

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