Why does a power assist robot system reduce the weight of an object lifted with it? The preliminary results

S. M. Mizanoor Rahman, Ryojun Ikeura, Ishibashi Shinsuke, Soichiro Hayakawa, Hideki Sawai

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

A power assist robot system reduces the weight of an object lifted with it. However, the root causes of the reduced heaviness as well as the factors affecting the heaviness are still unknown. The knowledge on the root causes and factors could be used to modulate the interactions between the human user and the robot when lifting objects with it. This paper investigated the reasons and factors behind the reduced heaviness of objects lifted with a power assist system. We hypothesized that weight perception due to inertia might be different from that due to gravity when lifting an object with a power assist system because the actual weight and the perceived weight were different. Subjects lifted objects manually and with power-assist separately. We compared load forces and motion features for the manually lifted objects to that for the power-assisted objects and found that the load force and its rate, velocity and acceleration for the power-assisted objects were lower than that for the manually lifted objects. We noticed that there were time delays in force sensing, position sensing, servomotor etc. for the power-assisted objects, but not for the manually lifted objects. We assumed that the delays were responsible for the reduced heaviness of objects lifted with power-assist. Finally, we proposed to use the findings to develop human-friendly power assist devices for manipulating heavy objects in industries that would help improve/modulate interactions between users and robots.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2010 IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration
Subtitle of host publicationSI International 2010 - The 3rd Symposium on System Integration, SII 2010, Proceedings
Pages158-163
Number of pages6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010
Event3rd International Symposium on System Integration, SII 2010 - Sendai, Japan
Duration: Dec 21 2010Dec 22 2010

Publication series

Name2010 IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration: SI International 2010 - The 3rd Symposium on System Integration, SII 2010, Proceedings

Conference

Conference3rd International Symposium on System Integration, SII 2010
Country/TerritoryJapan
CitySendai
Period12/21/1012/22/10

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Control and Systems Engineering

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