抄録
A stand alone wearable power assisting suit consisting of shoulders, arms, a back, a waist and legs units was developed. The units of arms, waist and legs have direct drive pneumatic rotary actuators driven by portable Ni-Cd batteries. The muscle forces are sensed by a new muscle hardness sensor utilizing a load cell. The embedded microcomputer is used to calculate the necessary joint torque from static body mechanics using the joint angles, and the calculated torque is combined with the output signal of the muscle sensor to make control signal. The each unit of the suit transmitted assisting torque directly to each joint, and by wearing the suit to the body the weight could be lifted by half or less muscular power, i.e., muscular power became twice or more.
