Necessity of Foot/Leg-Based Operation of Operator in Man-Riding Mobile Robot Equipped with Robotic Arms - Leg Motion During Leg Support Device Use -

Abstract

In a man-riding mobile robot equipped with robotic arms, since the robotic arms are controlled by the operator’s hands and arms, it is necessary to utilize the operator’s feet and legs movements to control the entire mobile robot’s motion; this paper discussed this requirement as well as the need for research on foot- and leg-based operation. Next, we examined leg support devices and analyzed the foot movement trajectories obtained from experiments. The results showed that while the use of leg support devices reduces the physical load on the leg, depending on the type of movement, the curvature of the foot’s trajectory tends to increase, and the discrepancy between the intended linear movement and the actual movement tends to become more pronounced.