A Hybrid Variable-Stiffness Soft Back Support Device

IF 5.3 2区计算机科学 Q2 ROBOTICS IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters Pub Date : 2025-02-11 DOI:10.1109/LRA.2025.3541459

Rohan Khatavkar;The Bach Nguyen;Yuanhao Chen;Hyunglae Lee;Jiefeng Sun

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Abstract

Back support devices(BSDs) have the potential to mitigate overexertion in industrial tasks and also to provide assistance to people with weak back muscle strength in daily activity. While state-of-the-art active BSDs can offer a high assistive force, they are bulky and heavy, making them uncomfortable for daily use. On the contrary, passive BSDs are compact but need manual adjustment to be versatile. This work presents a hybrid soft BSD that can provide task-oriented assistance by tuning the stiffness (0.58 N/mm, 0.92 N/mm, and 1.7 N/mm) and slack length (0 mm to 67 mm) in a compact design. The tunable stiffness allows for selecting a task-specific force profile, and the slack tuning will ensure that the device enables unhindered movement when assistance is not required. Compared with rigid devices, the device's compliance can potentially increase human comfort. We propose an analytical model that facilitates device design and estimates the device performance. Furthermore, the device's tuning capabilities are evaluated in human squatting and stooping experiments, showing that the desired force profile is correctly applied.

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一种混合变刚度软背支撑装置

背部支撑装置（bsd）有可能减轻工业任务中的过度劳累，也可以在日常活动中为背部肌肉力量弱的人提供帮助。虽然最先进的主动bsd可以提供高辅助力，但它们体积庞大，重量大，日常使用不舒服。相反，被动式bsd结构紧凑，但需要手动调整才能实现多功能。这项工作提出了一种混合软BSD，可以通过调整紧凑设计中的刚度（0.58 N/mm， 0.92 N/mm和1.7 N/mm）和松弛长度（0 mm至67 mm）来提供面向任务的辅助。可调刚度允许选择特定任务的力轮廓，松弛调整将确保设备在不需要辅助时能够畅通无阻地移动。与刚性装置相比，该装置的顺应性可以潜在地增加人体的舒适度。我们提出了一个分析模型，便于器件设计和估计器件性能。此外，该装置的调谐能力在人体下蹲和弯腰的实验中进行了评估，表明所需的力轮廓是正确的。

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来源期刊

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters Computer Science-Computer Science Applications

CiteScore

9.60

自引率

15.40%

发文量

1428

期刊介绍： The scope of this journal is to publish peer-reviewed articles that provide a timely and concise account of innovative research ideas and application results, reporting significant theoretical findings and application case studies in areas of robotics and automation.