Development of a Parallel Wire Mechanism to Mist the Upper Body Motion and Attitude of Disabled People

本研究开发一种上肢运动辅助系统，旨在使下肢残疾的残疾人能够通过自己的意志控制他们的上肢运动和姿势保持。该辅助系统采用平行线机构，其中平台由线悬挂和移动。平行线机构可以将驱动器布置在基座上，具有大功率、高速度和高精度的优点;由于线驱动，它们还具有轻巧和身体灵活的优点。因此，它们适合于附接到车身的辅助系统。然而，由于并联柔丝机构具有多自由度和冗余度的特点，其动平台的张力分析比较困难。本文提出了一种求解任意方向外力作用下最大钢丝张力的有效方法，即考虑向量封闭条件的特征值分析法。该方法可以 关于我们 设计了一种结构紧凑、驱动力小的并联柔丝机构，并利用该方法研制了上半身运动辅助系统。为了确认所开发的辅助系统对上半身运动的辅助效果，考虑了定位的准确性和对人体的力的作用。研制了能够测量钢丝张力变化的测力传感器，并安装到所开发的系统中。同时，建立了一套能够同时测量辅助系统和佩戴者姿态的图像记录系统。我们将上部运动辅助系统连接到健康的成年配偶身上，并确认其运动。还通过上述测量系统测量穿戴者的行为和线张力的变化。其结果是，能够高精度地辅助穿着者的前后屈曲、侧屈曲、摆动，并且不会对身体作用过大的力。因此，所开发的平行线机构是有用的，以协助上半身的运动。少

This study develops an upper body motion assist system that aims at enabling disabled people with lower limb disability to control their upper body motion and attitude holding by their own will. The assist system employs a parallel wire mechanism of which the platform is suspended and moved by wires. Parallel wire mechanisms can arrange the actuators on the base and have advantages such as high power, high speed and high accuracy ; they offer other advantages in lightness and body flexibility due to the wire actuating. Thus, they are suitable for the assist system attached to the body. However, as parallel wire mechanisms have multi-degree-of-freedom and redundancy, the analysis of tension applied to the wires to drive their moving platform is difficult. This paper proposes the effective method for evaluating the maximum wire tension induced by external forces in arbitrary-direction, by the eigenvalue analysis with considering the vector-close condition. The method makes it possible to … More design a parallel wire mechanism to be compact and driven by small force.By using the proposed method, we actually developed the upper body motion assist system. In order to confirm the assistance effect by the developed assist system on upper body motion, accuracy of positioning and action of forces on human body was considered. Load cell that can measure the variation of wire tension was made and equipped to the developed system. Simultaneously, an image record system that can measure the pose of both the assist system and the wearer was built up. We attached the upper motion assist system to healthy adult mates and confirmed its motion. The behaviors of the wearer and variation of the wire tensions were also measured by the aforementioned measuring system. As a result, the forward-backward flexion, side flexion and swing of the wearer can be assisted accuracy and the exceeded forces are not acted to the body. Thus, the developed parallel wire mechanism is useful to assist the upper body motion. Less