MOTION ASSIST DEVICE

• US 20100004577A1
• Filed: 08/19/2008
• Published: 01/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Endo, Yosuke, Shimada, Kei, Yasuhara, Ken
• Granted Patent: US 8,317,732 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 602/23
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 1/0244 Hip A61H1/0255 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/1215 Rotary drive
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/1616 Holding means therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/1628 Pelvis
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/1635 Hand or arm, e.g. handle hand-held, A61H2201/0153; fore-arm support, A61H2003/006
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/164 Feet or leg, e.g. pedal
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/1642 Holding means therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/165 Wearable interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/1676 Pivoting
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/5069 Angle sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 3/00 Appliances for aiding patients or disabled persons to walk about apparatus for helping babies to walk A47D13/04; orthopaedic devices for correcting deformities of, or supporting, limbs A61F5/0102; exercising apparatus for the feet or toes A63B23/10; stairways or ramps E04F11/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 3/008 Using suspension devices for supporting the body in an upright walking or standing position, e.g. harnesses drawing-out devices A61H1/0218
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 21/4011 to the lower limbs means for physically limiting movements of body parts A63B69/0057
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 23/04 for lower limbs training appliances for special sports A63B69/00; for the purpose of producing mechanical power F03G5/00
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/0006 Exoskeletons, i.e. resembling a human figure

Abstract

Provided is a device capable of assisting a periodical motion of a creature, such as a human, by applying a force to the creature so as to match a motion rhythm and a motion scale of the periodical motion to a desired motion rhythm and a desired motion scale, respectively, while reducing computation processing load. According to a motion assist device (10) of the present invention, a value of a member or a coefficient contained in a simultaneous differential equation of a state variable (u_i) for defining a second model which generates a second oscillator (ξ₂) is adjusted by means of an adjusting device (14). The second oscillator (ξ₂) is generated by the adjusted second model and a torque (T) applied to a human (P) is controlled to vary periodically according to the second oscillator (ξ₂).

Claims

1. A motion assist device which comprises an orthosis mounted on a creature, an actuator connected to the orthosis and a controlling device configured to control an amplitude and a period or phase of an output of the actuator, and assists a periodical motion of the creature by applying the output to the creature through the orthosis,

wherein the controlling device includes

a motion oscillator determination element configured to determine a second motion oscillator which periodically varies according to the motion of the creature;

a second oscillator generation element configured to generate a second oscillator, which serves as a control basis of the actuator, as an output oscillation signal from a second model by inputting the motion oscillator determined by the motion oscillator determination element as an input oscillation signal to the second model, which is defined by a simultaneous differential equation of a plurality of state variables representing a behavior state of the creature for generating the output oscillation signal varying at an angular velocity defined according to an intrinsic angular velocity on the basis of the input oscillation signal; and

an adjusting device configured to adjust a value of a member or a coefficient contained in the simultaneous differential equation.

2. The motion assist device according to claim 1, wherein the simultaneous differential equation for defining the second model contains a time constant representing a variation pattern of the plurality of state variables, and a value of the time constant is adjusted by the adjusting device.

3. The motion assist device according to claim 1, wherein the simultaneous differential equation for defining the second model contains a coefficient related to a desired value of a motion variable representing a motion scale of the creature, and a value of the coefficient is adjusted by the adjusting device.

4. The motion assist device according to claim 1, wherein the orthosis includes a first orthosis mounted on a first body part, a second orthosis mounted on a second body part and a third orthosis mounted on a third body part of the creature;

the actuator is directly connected to the first orthosis and the second orthosis and is indirectly connected to the third orthosis through the second orthosis as an intermediary.