Inofis Co., Ltd., a venture from Tokyo University of Science, will sell the latest model of the wearable work support robot "Muscle Suit for Waist Assistance" series from September 2018.
The "Muscle Suit" is a wearable work support robot that assists the wearer's movements with air-operated "artificial muscles" and reduces the burden on the body during difficult work.It assists the movements when performing work that puts a burden on the body, such as when lifting a person or a heavy object or maintaining a mid-waist posture, and reduces the work load.It is also effective in preventing back pain.
The biggest feature is that the actuator uses an artificial muscle (Mckibben type artificial muscle) that uses air as a drive source, so it has a strong assisting force of up to 25.5 kgf to 35.7 kgf while having a smooth and natural movement. (= Reinforces the force to rotate the upper body with respect to the lower body to assist the lower back). Since the initial model was launched in 2014, a total of 3,400 units have been shipped.It has been introduced in sites with a lot of heavy labor such as nursing care, manufacturing, construction, logistics, and agriculture.
The latest model "Edge" to be released this time responds to the demand from users for lighter and wider applications, and the weight of the conventional model has been reduced from 5 to 8 kg to 4.3 kg.The shape has also become compact so that it can be used in narrow spaces.
