Upper Body of Dummy Humanoid Robot with Exterior Deformation Mechanism for Evaluation of Assistive Products and Technologies

[abstFig src='/00280004/17.jpg' width='300' text='Dummy robot with exterior deformation mechanism' ] People suffering from tetraplegia are unable to perform many activities of daily living, such as dressing and toileting. The purpose of this study is to develop a dummy humanoid robot to assess assistive products and technologies for patients of tetraplegia. This paper describes the mechanism, motion planning, and sensing system of the dummy robot. The proposed dummy robot has upper-arm mechanisms that simulate the human collarbones based on a functional anatomy. To realize a variety of body shapes, the proposed robot has deformation mechanisms that use linear actuators and rotating servo-motors. The sensing system of the dummy robot can measure clothing pressure before and after exterior deformation is measured, and can hence detect changes in it.