We have been developing exoskeletal robots in order to support the motion of physically weak persons such as elderly persons or handicapped persons. In our previous research, the 2-DOF exoskeletal robots for shoulder motion support and its control method have been developed since the shoulder motion is especially important for people to take care of themselves in everyday life. In this paper, we propose intelligent interface, which realizes the fuzzy-neuro controller adjustment in accordance with the human subject's arm posture, in order to effectively control the 2-DOF exoskeletal robot for shoulder motion support. The intelligent interface is realized by applying a neural network. The effectiveness of the proposed intelligent interface of the exoskeletal robot has been evaluated by experiment.

The exoskeletal robots are expected to support the daily activities of physically weak persons such as elderly persons or handicapped persons in these days. In our previous research, the exoskeletal robots for elbow or shoulder motion support have been developed since the elbow and shoulder motion is especially important for people to perform tasks in everyday life. In this paper, we present a mechanism of the moving center of rotation of the shoulder joint of the exoskeletal robot for human shoulder motion support in order to fit the center of rotation of the robot shoulder joint to that of the physiological human shoulder joint during the shoulder motion. The effectiveness of the proposed mechanism of the robot has been evaluated by experiment.

We have been developing exoskeletal robots in order to realize the human motion support (especially for physically weak people). We propose a 2 DOF exoskeletal robot to support the human shoulder motion. In this exoskeletal robot, the flexion-extension and abduction-adduction motions of the shoulder are supported by activating the arm holder of the robot, which is attached to the upper arm of the human subject, using wires driven by DC motors. A fuzzy controller has been designed to control the robot according to skin surface electromyogram (EMG) signals in which intention of the human subject is reflected. The proposed controller controls the flexion-extension and abduction-adduction motion of the human subject. The effectiveness of the proposed exoskeletal robot has been evaluated by experiment.