In the coming advanced age society, a human assist robot to support the activities of daily living of elderly and disabled person and the heavy work of nurse is expected to be developed. Such a robot is required to be safe and friendly for human, which should be lightweight and has to provide a proper softness. This type of robot should be constructed with not only a soft body but also small, lightweight and soft actuator and sensor. In order to develop these robot components, a soft material such as rubber could be effective.
In recent years, pneumatic rubber artificial muscles have come to be considered most practical for a human friendly robot. In this paper, some types of pneumatic rubber muscles and their applications to a rehabilitation robot, a soft robot hand and a wearable power assist robot are described based on our research.
