Mechanism Evaluation of Agricultural Power Assist Suit

Abstract

In this study, an exoskeleton-type power assist suit is developed to reduce the labor burden involved in agricultural work. In an exoskeleton-type power assist suit, the wearer of the suit faces a limitation in the sense that the movable range of the exoskeleton joints when the suit is worn is different from that when it is not worn. In this paper, mechanism evaluation of the developed agricultural power assist suit is proposed using two parameters degree of freedom achievement rate and adaptability. Through analysis, the insufficient range of joint motions was identified; additionally, an improvement in the degree of freedom of the back portion of the proposed power assist suit was identified to be a problem.