Zhang Jiayue, Vanderbilt Daniel, Fitz Ethan, Dong Janet
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0072, USA.
Bioengineering (Basel). 2025 May 15;12(5):526. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering12050526.
Industrial workers often engage in repetitive lifting tasks. This type of continual loading on their arms throughout the workday can lead to muscle or tendon injuries. A non-intrusive system designed to assist a worker's arms would help alleviate strain on their muscles, thereby preventing injury and minimizing productivity losses. The goal of this project is to develop a wearable soft robotic arm enhancement device that supports a worker's muscles by sharing the load during lifting tasks, thereby increasing their lifting capacity, reducing fatigue, and improving their endurance to help prevent injury. The device should be easy to use and wear, functioning in relative harmony with the user's own muscles. It should not restrict the user's range of motion or flexibility. The human arm consists of numerous muscles that work together to enable its movement. However, as a proof of concept, this project focuses on developing a prototype to enhance the biceps brachii muscle, the primary muscle involved in pulling movements during lifting. Key components of the prototype include a soft robotic muscle or actuator analogous to the biceps, a control system for the pneumatic muscle actuator, and a method for securing the soft muscle to the user's arm. The McKibben-inspired pneumatic muscle was chosen as the soft actuator for the prototype. A hybrid control algorithm, incorporating PID and model-based control methods, was developed. Electromyography (EMG) and pressure sensors were utilized as inputs for the control algorithms. This paper discusses the design strategies for the device and the preliminary results of the feasibility testing. Based on the results, a wearable EMG-controlled soft robotic arm augmentation could effectively enhance the endurance of industrial workers engaged in repetitive lifting tasks.
产业工人经常从事重复性的提举任务。在整个工作日中，他们的手臂持续承受这种负荷，可能会导致肌肉或肌腱损伤。设计一种非侵入式系统来辅助工人的手臂，将有助于减轻肌肉的压力，从而预防损伤并最大限度地减少生产力损失。本项目的目标是开发一种可穿戴的软机器人手臂增强装置，在提举任务中通过分担负荷来支撑工人的肌肉，从而提高他们的提举能力、减轻疲劳并增强耐力以帮助预防损伤。该装置应易于使用和穿戴，与使用者自身的肌肉相对协调地发挥作用。它不应限制使用者的活动范围或灵活性。人类手臂由众多协同工作以实现其运动的肌肉组成。然而，作为概念验证，本项目专注于开发一个原型，以增强肱二头肌，这是提举过程中参与拉伸动作的主要肌肉。该原型的关键组件包括一个类似于肱二头肌的软机器人肌肉或致动器、一个用于气动肌肉致动器的控制系统，以及一种将软肌肉固定到使用者手臂上的方法。受麦基本启发的气动肌肉被选作原型的软致动器。开发了一种结合PID和基于模型的控制方法的混合控制算法。肌电图（EMG）和压力传感器被用作控制算法的输入。本文讨论了该装置的设计策略以及可行性测试的初步结果。基于这些结果，一种可穿戴的肌电控制软机器人手臂增强装置可以有效地增强从事重复性提举任务的产业工人的耐力。
