A Virtual Wall for Perception-Assist with a Lower-Limb Power-Assist Robot

Abstract

Studies on power-assist robots are actively performed to assist human motion. Some of them are applied to assist the daily motion of physically weak persons such as elderly persons. Perception-assist was proposed to avoid an unexpected accident of users of the power-assist robot. In perception-assist, a virtual wall is sometimes used to avoid stumbling accident. In this paper, an effective shape of the virtual wall is proposed based on experiments of ascending to a certain bump under various situations. Effective perception-assist is expected using the proposed virtual wall. The effectiveness of the proposed virtual wall was evaluated by performing experiments.