Development and Control of Power-Assisted Lumbar Suit Based on Upper-Body Acceleration

In this study, we propose a method to estimate the assistive timing requirements for a power-assisted lumbar suit based on upper-body acceleration. Our developed power-assisted suit combines of springs, wires, and an electrical motor to provide efficient assistance. The assistive torque provided by the suit was determined based on a digital human model. The assistive timing using the electrical motor was calculated from the upper-body acceleration measured using two internal accelerometers. Herein, we present the experimental results based on the myoelectricity of a muscle during lifting motions involving three participants acting as caregivers to elderly patients.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/).