Evaluation of effects caused by individual differences in human shape that affect the safe utilization of wearable robots

Abstract When using a wearable robot, the interaction force applied to the area of contact may cause skin injuries over time. Therefore, validating the contact safety of wearable robots is important for their practical application. Because previous studies indicated that the repetitive share stress...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yuma Sakai, Yasuhiro Akiyama, Yoji Yamada, Shogo Okamoto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2018-09-01
Series:ROBOMECH Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40648-018-0117-7
_version_ 1818846492479193088
author Yuma Sakai
Yasuhiro Akiyama
Yoji Yamada
Shogo Okamoto
author_facet Yuma Sakai
Yasuhiro Akiyama
Yoji Yamada
Shogo Okamoto
author_sort Yuma Sakai
collection DOAJ
description Abstract When using a wearable robot, the interaction force applied to the area of contact may cause skin injuries over time. Therefore, validating the contact safety of wearable robots is important for their practical application. Because previous studies indicated that the repetitive share stress of the wearable robots increased the risk of blister generation, analysis of stress distribution, which is affected by the contact state, was viewed as very important. However, the effect of variability of the shape of the human body on the shear stress applied to the contact area is rarely analyzed, even though uneven contact between human tissue and the robotic cuff can cause stress concentration. In this study, a system for safety verification and validation of the robotic cuff was developed, and the interaction force exerted on the contact area of a variably shaped human tissue dummy when rubbed by a robotic cuff was measured. As a result, the maximum interaction force occurred when the robotic cuff moved over the convex part of the surface. Furthermore, the magnitude of the interaction force corresponded to the gradient. Thus, the shear stress increased by approximately 10% as the height of the iliac spine, which originally mimicked the anterior superior iliac spine, changed by 1 mm. This variability suggests that the stress concentration caused by the unevenness of human tissue plays an important role in the risk of blister.
first_indexed 2024-12-19T05:46:25Z
format Article
id doaj.art-0b2a1286b45446f89a29e1fb57089988
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2197-4225
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-19T05:46:25Z
publishDate 2018-09-01
publisher SpringerOpen
record_format Article
series ROBOMECH Journal
spelling doaj.art-0b2a1286b45446f89a29e1fb570899882022-12-21T20:33:49ZengSpringerOpenROBOMECH Journal2197-42252018-09-01511810.1186/s40648-018-0117-7Evaluation of effects caused by individual differences in human shape that affect the safe utilization of wearable robotsYuma Sakai0Yasuhiro Akiyama1Yoji Yamada2Shogo Okamoto3Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Nagoya UniversityDepartment of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Nagoya UniversityDepartment of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Nagoya UniversityDepartment of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Nagoya UniversityAbstract When using a wearable robot, the interaction force applied to the area of contact may cause skin injuries over time. Therefore, validating the contact safety of wearable robots is important for their practical application. Because previous studies indicated that the repetitive share stress of the wearable robots increased the risk of blister generation, analysis of stress distribution, which is affected by the contact state, was viewed as very important. However, the effect of variability of the shape of the human body on the shear stress applied to the contact area is rarely analyzed, even though uneven contact between human tissue and the robotic cuff can cause stress concentration. In this study, a system for safety verification and validation of the robotic cuff was developed, and the interaction force exerted on the contact area of a variably shaped human tissue dummy when rubbed by a robotic cuff was measured. As a result, the maximum interaction force occurred when the robotic cuff moved over the convex part of the surface. Furthermore, the magnitude of the interaction force corresponded to the gradient. Thus, the shear stress increased by approximately 10% as the height of the iliac spine, which originally mimicked the anterior superior iliac spine, changed by 1 mm. This variability suggests that the stress concentration caused by the unevenness of human tissue plays an important role in the risk of blister.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40648-018-0117-7Wearable robotContact safetyIndevidual differenceSkin shapeStress concentration
spellingShingle Yuma Sakai
Yasuhiro Akiyama
Yoji Yamada
Shogo Okamoto
Evaluation of effects caused by individual differences in human shape that affect the safe utilization of wearable robots
ROBOMECH Journal
Wearable robot
Contact safety
Indevidual difference
Skin shape
Stress concentration
title Evaluation of effects caused by individual differences in human shape that affect the safe utilization of wearable robots
title_full Evaluation of effects caused by individual differences in human shape that affect the safe utilization of wearable robots
title_fullStr Evaluation of effects caused by individual differences in human shape that affect the safe utilization of wearable robots
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of effects caused by individual differences in human shape that affect the safe utilization of wearable robots
title_short Evaluation of effects caused by individual differences in human shape that affect the safe utilization of wearable robots
title_sort evaluation of effects caused by individual differences in human shape that affect the safe utilization of wearable robots
topic Wearable robot
Contact safety
Indevidual difference
Skin shape
Stress concentration
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40648-018-0117-7
work_keys_str_mv AT yumasakai evaluationofeffectscausedbyindividualdifferencesinhumanshapethataffectthesafeutilizationofwearablerobots
AT yasuhiroakiyama evaluationofeffectscausedbyindividualdifferencesinhumanshapethataffectthesafeutilizationofwearablerobots
AT yojiyamada evaluationofeffectscausedbyindividualdifferencesinhumanshapethataffectthesafeutilizationofwearablerobots
AT shogookamoto evaluationofeffectscausedbyindividualdifferencesinhumanshapethataffectthesafeutilizationofwearablerobots