Assist gain setting method of construction work supporting suit using pneumatic rubber artificial muscles

Abstract

Low back pain and aging of workers are a major problem at construction work sites, and it is urgent to reduce work burden on workers. Therefore in this research, we develop an assist suit with lightweight and flexible pneumatic rubber artificial muscles for the purpose of reducing the muscle load of the lumbar. We design the assist force based on EMG of the spinal column muscle and lumbar joint torque to control the artificial muscles. The evaluation of the designed assist force and the support capacity of the device are performed with the EMG and the center of gravity fluctuation.