Posture adjustment of standing on a slope with a wearable robot

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a sensing and control system of a wearable robot which adjusts a standing posture on a slope. We first analyzed standing posture on a slope using the statics model of human body. The results of the analysis indicate that the ankle joint angle should be adjusted so that the user maintains an upright posture. In the proposed system, angular velocity of ankle joints is determined on the basis of the user's intention which is detected by the center of pressure and vertical ground reaction force. Our experiments demonstrated that a user could adjust the ankle angle to be an upright posture. The results indicate that the posture adjustment system was effective to maintain an upright posture and to reduce the arm loading while standing on the slope.