Proposal for an upper arm assistive device to wear an inflatable exoskeleton.

Abstract

Wearable assistive devices have now been developed to reduce various work burdens. However, wearable assistive devices have problems such as low mobility, complicated mounting and dismounting, dead weight of the device, comfort, high installation costs and low ease of use. In addition, most arm assistive devices during upward work assist the horizontal upper arm, and there are few devices that assist the upper arm near the vertical axis, and none that solve the above problems. This study proposes an exoskeleton-type assistive device using an inflatable structure that is supported by an inflatable pouch structure by injecting fluid, to solve the problems of handling and cost, which are problems of wearable assistive devices for vertical work.