Modeling of the exoskeletal human-machine system movement lifting a load

Abstract

The mechanization and automation are introduced in various industries for loading and unloading operations. However, the manual labor continues to be widespread in a number of industries. One of the ways to improve the quality of working conditions due to the transition from extreme to comfortable conditions is using of exoskeletons. The technological operations of lifting and transfer of goods implementation by a person can be considered in two aspects: from the point of view of the workload performed by a person with this type of work, and on the other hand, the functional stress of the body as an integral response to the load. The study of the human-machine system (HMS) elements interaction allows us to identify new opportunities for providing a cooperative solution to technological problems by obtaining the exoskeleton’s links movement given accuracy. The article is devoted to the HMS motion kinematic model development, as well as the determination of the dependence of the linear gravity compensator (LGC) length change on the magnitude of the exoskeleton’s back rotation angle for various geometric dimensions that determine the position of the LGC. The determination of this dependence allows us to construct an algorithm for the HMI, including the LGC functioning. For this, the vector method of mathematical modeling is used.