Design and Development of a Non-Powered Arm Support Suit with Drum Type Mechanical Brakes

Abstract

Fruit farmers often need to keep their arms raised continuously when cultivating or harvesting fruits such as grapes. This paper describes the design and development of a non-powered arm support suit with drum-type mechanical brakes (DTMBs) to reduce their burden. This support suit supports keeping their arms raised continuously by using the DTMBs. Activating the DTMBs is easy. Also, releasing the DTMBs is easy. This arm support suit requires no power source and is essentially safe because it consists of passive mechanical components such as springs. To reduce the suit’s weight, many parts of the suit were made using carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) by using the 3D printer. First, the features and structure of this support suit are introduced. Second, the structure and mechanism of the DTMB is explained. Third, the developed arm support suit with the DTMBs is introduced. Finally, experimental results to consider the effectiveness of the developed arm support suit with the DTMBs are presented.