Estimation of the optimal spread of a guidance force field for a power assist system

We developed a power assist system based on a method with considering the operator's trajectory and dynamics prediction by using approachability. In order to realize the assist system, we proposed a concept of guidance force field. Our guidance force field method helped to improve maneuverability for operator. In this paper, we propose a method to improve maneuverability based on guidance force field and approachability of traditional impedance-controlled power assist system. We propose an estimation method of the optimal spread of the guidance force field from the experimental evaluation value when it take minimum value. As the experimental results, we showed that the guidance force contributed to improving maneuverability by defining the estimated function, and we obtained a best value of spread for the guidance force field.