Authors:
Harutaka Ooki
1
;
Sho Yokota
1
;
Akihiro Matumoto
1
;
Daisuke Chugo
2
;
Satoshi Muramatsu
3
and
Hiroshi Hashimoto
4
Affiliations:
1
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Toyo University, Saitama, Japan
;
2
School of Engineering, Kwansei Gakuin University, Sanda, Japan
;
3
Dept. of Applied Computer Eng., Tokai University, Japan
;
4
Adv. Instisute of Industrial Tech., Shinagawa, Japan
Keyword(s):
Walking, Assistance, Trunk, Human Powered.
Abstract:
Walking is a whole-body movement including an upper body (trunk) and a lower body (pelvis and lower limbs), which is called the Spinal Engine Theory. Furthermore, there is a finding that the stride length and walking speed increases with the amount of trunk rotation. Based on this insight, there have been existing study that promotes rotation of the upper body to assist in walking. However, motors are used to assist the rotation of the upper body, which requires maintenance of the power supply and complicates the system. Therefore, this research aims to develop an orthosis that promotes gait by increasing the amount of trunk rotation without any active actuators. In particular, this paper reports on the basic experiment to confirm that the prototype can apply assistive torque to the trunk when the leg is raised.