Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : June 08, 2016 - June 11, 2016
The rehabilitation devices help to recover physical ability of patients for keeping Quality of Life. This study aims at developing a potable rehabilitation device which can be safe to use while holding it. In the previous study, the flexible spherical actuator using two ring-shaped flexible pneumatic cylinders was proposed and tested. In this paper, to measure attitude of the device, a flexible pneumatic cylinder with built-in wire-type linear potentiometer was proposed and tested. In addition, to decrease consumed air of the cylinder for portability, a hybrid flexible actuator that combined the cylinder with DC motor was proposed and tested. Position control systems using both actuators were proposed and tested. As a result, it was confirmed that the tested sensor could measure the displacement of cylinders and the position control using both actuators could be realized. The relatively long-period driving test using small-sized tank and tested hybrid actuator was also executed.