Development of a Lightweight Flexible Construction Work Assist Suit Using Pneumatic Rubber Artificial Muscles

We developed an assist suit with lightweight, flexible artificial muscles of pneumatic rubber for reducing muscle load in the lumbar region. We designed two assist forces to control the artificial muscles with pulse width modulation based on the measured EMG of the spinal column muscle and estimated the torque of the hip joint. The experimental results confirmed the developed work assist suit could unload muscle activity during bending and stretching exercises. We also proposed to use an EMG measurement device at the wearer's temple to control the assist timing and confirmed the feasibility of detecting the intention of the wearer.