The Journal of Korea Robotics Society (로봇학회논문지)

Korea Robotics Society (한국로봇학회)
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Development of Soft Wearable Robot for Assisting Supination and Pronation of Forearm

전완의 회외 및 회내를 보조하는 유연한 착용형 로봇 개발

  • Kyu Bum Kim (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University) ;
  • Jihun Park (Advanced Mechanical R&D Group, Samsung Electronics) ;
  • Kyu-Jin Cho (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University)
  • Received : 2023.08.07
  • Accepted : 2023.11.15
  • Published : 2023.11.30
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Abstract

In order to fully utilize the functions of the hand which is the end effector of the upper limb, other parts of the upper limb have to perform their own roles. Among them, the pronation and supination of the forearm, which allows the hand to rotate along the longitudinal direction of the forearm, play an important role in activities of daily living. In this paper, a soft wearable robot that assists the pronation and supination of the forearm for individuals with weakened or lost upper limb function is proposed. The wearable robot consists of an anchoring part with polymer (wrist strap, elbow strap), a tendon with a belt and wire, and an actuation module. It was developed based on the requirements with respect to friction of anchoring part, forearm compression, and friction of the tendon. It was confirmed that these requirements were satisfied through literature review and experiments. Since all components exist within the forearm when worn, it is expected to be easy to combine with the already developed soft wearable robots for the hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korean Government (MSIT) (RS-2023-00208052), and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE, Korea). [Project Number: 20014480]

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