This paper proposes a walker system with power assistance device for standing-up motion. Our system focuses on family use for aged people who need nursing in their daily life. Our key ideas are based on two topics. The first topic is new assistance manipulator mechanism with four parallel linkages. Our proposed manipulator mechanism requires only smaller actuators and realizes rigid structure with lighter linkages compared with general manipulator. Thus, we can design our assistance system compactly with low-cost using our mechanism. The second topic is the combination of force and position control. According to the patient's posture during standing-up, our control system selects more appropriate control method from them. Furthermore, the walker coordinates its assistance position and maintains the stable posture of the patient during standing assistance. We use the reference of standing-up motion which is based on the typical standing-up motion by a nursing specialist for realizing the natural assistance. The performance of our proposed assistance system is verified by experiments using our prototype.
EMG estimation from EEG for constructing a power assistance system
