Design Guidelines for Moving a Human Body on a Bed Using Traveling Waves

Inspired by natural waves such as water waves that can carry objects, this study presents design guidelines for moving a human body using traveling waves created on the surface of a bed. Particularly, through kinematic analysis and simulation of a traveling wave, the study explores various parameters, such as the wave’s frequency, wavelength, amplitude, number of wave-generating actuators and their movement pattern under the body. The study also investigates how these parameters affect human transportation speed and movement smoothness. The study results suggest that transportation speed is linearly proportional to the wave frequency. Additionally, to increase movement smoothness, the wave amplitude should be reduced while the number of actuators should be maximized. However, there is a tradeoff between the number of actuators that can be used and the complexity of the system’s design and control.