Agricultural tasks result in significant strain on the arms, thereby necessitating posture support. One such task is measuring the photosynthetic capacity of individual leaves. This task requires the operator to hold a measuring device for long periods, which is physically demanding. This study aims to develop an assist suit to reduce the physical load involved in photosynthesis measurement work. We used work posture evaluation methods to quantify the workload of this task and identified the parts of the body at high-risk of injury. Then, we designed an assist suit based on the required specifications and verified its effectiveness.
Agricultural power assist suits (PAS) have been developed and researched in our laboratory.In this study, the performance of a PAS is evaluated without burdening subjects through kinetic simulation.According to the formula for deriving energy consumption, the ratio of the energy consumption to the joint torque is same.Therefore, the joint torque of the knee is derived to investigate the influence of kinetic simulation the on femur.According to kinetic simulation, a PAS can reduce energy consumption.Further, the performance of PAS can be extracted by adjusting size.The validity of simulation is evaluated by comparing with other results.The simulation results and dynamics calculations agree well, but the actual measurements of some subjects show differences.The factors considered are the measurement error of the joint angle, difference in the position for pasting the electrode to measure the myopotential, and the asymmetry of muscle tension.Differences with considerable errors were observed for some test subjects in comparison with actual values, but a good match was observed for the case in which the PAS was worn for those test subjects that also showed a good match for the case without the PAS.
In this study, a system for evaluating the wheelchair seating posture is introduced. The system consists of three subsystems: a seating posture changing system, a seating posture analysis system, and a propulsion analysis system. The seating posture changing system uses pneumatically controlled airbags installed in the wheelchair seat to change the posture of the patient and aims to generate a good posture heuristically. The seating posture analysis system uses seat sensors, video cameras, and whose analysis software to measure and analyze the current posture by seat sensors. One of the features of the analysis system is that the shape of the spine is estimated virtually, as the shape is one of the best indicators of a patient's posture. From the current seating posture, the propulsion analysis system estimates the posture, driving force, and muscular forces necessary to propel the wheelchair. Basic hardware and software for the pneumatically controlled functions have been developed for the posture changing system, and the displacements of the human body were measured by a 3D motion analysis system when four airbags were filled with air independently. A method to estimate the spinal shape by the finite element method (FEM) using beam elements has been developed for the seating posture analysis system. This method has a fast processing time and takes external forces into consideration. A method that can estimate the position of the neutral axis of the spine from markers placed on body surfaces was also developed. For the propulsion analysis system, propulsion motion and muscular forces of a subject in the wheelchair with a seat cushion or a back seat cushion were analyzed. Future work includes the development of the remaining functions, such as the overlay display function of the video camera images and sensor data, and the integration of the entire system.
Job seeker training for six months for 15 members was performed by Polytechnic Center Kanto in Yokohama from January, 2006. The injection mold was completed by having made training and a training subject correspond. And employment of all the members who consist of 90 persons during the 6 periods was completed. Furthermore, job seeker training for ten months for ten members was performed by the Polytechnic University from January, 2010. Then, The difficult injection mold was completed and all the members were employed. This paper discussed job seeker training and an employment result.
The purpose of this study is to gather the information necessary for proposing the most effective training method to acquire milling machine technology. This study, the milling operation skills were evaluated based on experts’ physical motion data measured using a 3D motion capture system. As the results of comparison among for experts and a student, the apparent difference was not found with respect to the way of handling the table feed during roughing process and motion of chamfering. On the other hand, the difference was observed with both the ratio of the non-cutting time to the total working time, operator’s watching scope during finishing process. It was found that experts performed the preparatory work before next process.
The purpose of this study is to develop powered robotic dentures for elderly people without disabilities to assist them with chewing and swallowing. As the first step, a prototype mechanism was developed to realize the two functions of a molar tooth i.e., crushing and grinding. The results of the measurements of chewing values of the prototype, while showing a decreasing trend in crushing by impact, suggested that chewing is more effective with a combination of rotation and occlusal grooves. Moreover, the use of an ultrasonic motor as a driving actuator in the powered robotic denture was also studied.
