1996 Volume 1996 Issue 3 Pages 415-420
Intending to lighten hard physical labor of a nurse carring a patient in her arm, a powered suit which supports the muscular force of the nurse was developed. The powered suit consists of shoulers, arms, waist, and legs, made of aluminum, and is fitted on the nurse. The powered suit was originated with the concept of master and slave system in one body. The arms, waist and legs have pneumatic rotary actuators. The pneumatic actuator consists of concentric round boxes sliding each other. The movement of the arms, waist and legs of the nurse were sensed with strain sensors made with conductive rubber.
This paper gives design and the characteristics of the powered arm, waist and leg using the slide box type pneumatic actuators verifing its practicability.
