Motion assist apparatus

摘要

The present invention provides a motion assist apparatus capable of reducing the discomfort of a user that may be caused when a motion is assisted. A motion assist apparatus 1 has actuators 11, which apply a force for controlling the posture of the upper body of a user P through the intermediary of a second frame 14, a posture estimation sensor PS, which detects a posture angle θ of the upper body of the user P, a control unit C, which controls the actuators 11 to reduce a deviation dθ of a posture angle θ from a reference posture angle θ0, and a trigger sensor TS, which detects the occurrence of a trigger event. The control unit C sets the posture angle at the time of the occurrence of the trigger event as the reference posture angle θ0.

主权项

1. A motion assist apparatus comprising:
a first orthosis adapted to be attached to a leg of a user; a second orthosis adapted to be attached to an upper body of the user; a first frame connected to the first orthosis; a second frame connected to the second orthosis; an actuator that is configured to selectively apply a force to the user through an intermediary of the first orthosis and the second orthosis by transmitting a driving force to the first frame or the second frame; a posture estimation sensor that detects a posture angle of the upper body relative to a vertical plane having a longitudinal direction of the user defined as a perpendicular direction thereof; a control unit that controls the drive of the actuator such that a force for reducing a deviation of the posture angle from a reference posture angle is applied to the user; a trigger sensor that is configured to detect an occurrence of a trigger event, and an operation unit configured to transmit a signal to the control unit when the operation unit is operated by a user; wherein the control unit sets, as the reference posture angle, a posture angle detected by the posture estimation sensor at a time when the trigger sensor detects the occurrence of the trigger event after the control unit receives the signal from the operation unit and starts a calibration of the posture estimation sensor, or at a time when the signal from the operation unit is received.