Investigation of the Mounting Position of a Wearable Robot Arm

Abstract

In a wearable robot arm, the minimum joint configuration and link length must be considered to avoid increasing the burden on the user. This work investigated how the joint configuration, length of arm links, and mounting position of a wearable robot arm affect the cooperative and invasive workspaces of the overall workspace. We considered the joint configurations and link lengths of passive and active joints in our proposed wearable robot arm, which is called the Assist Oriented Arm (AOA). In addition, we comprehensively studied the position of the arm on the user. As a result, three locations around the shoulders and two around the waist were chosen as potential mounting sites. Furthermore, we evaluated the weight burden when the user mounted the wearable robot arm at those positions.