Design of Upper Limb Assistive Device Using a Pneumatic Cylinder Pages 9-18

Norihiko Saga1 and Koichi Kirihara2

1School of Science and Technology, Kwansei Gakuin University, 2-1 Gakuen, Sanda, Hyogo, 669-1337, Japan; 2Motion Control Division, Yasukawa Electric Co., 480 Fujisawa, Iruma, Saitama, 358-8555, Japan

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12970/2308-8354.2013.01.01.2

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Abstract: This paper describes the design of a device to support a patient’s upper limb motion. For safety, light weight, and flexibility, it uses a pneumatic cylinder for which the optimum arrangement is presented. This independence-supporting device has two modes corresponding to livelihood support and rehabilitation. Based on human motion, a compliance control system and a position control system are designed for those modes. As described herein, we evaluate the independence-support mode effectiveness through experimentation.

Keywords: Medical systems, Pneumatic systems, Actuators, Human-machine interface, Quality of daily life. Read more