Affiliations: Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author. Bor-Jiunn Wen, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, Taiwan, R.O.C. E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: Labor force is gradually becoming insufficient owing to the aging population. The quality and safety of workforces are increasingly important, and thus, a set of intelligent wearable devices that assist the transport of loads by laborers, provide auxiliary standing support, and prevent falls were designed in this study. By applying an auxiliary force to the knee joint externally, an intelligent wearable device saves labor and reduces the burden on this joint, thereby protecting it. This study utilizes a Bayesian backpropagation algorithm for intelligent control. The intelligent wearable device provides the most suitable velocity and torsion depending on the initial driving torsion of the user by a Bayesian backpropagation algorithm based on the current angle position, velocity, and torsion load of the device motor, thereby achieving an intelligent control effect of auxiliary standing support. A triaxial accelerometer is utilized to sense a fall and prevent it by a so-called fuzzy-Bayesian backpropagation control (FBC). Eventually, this study successfully designed and manufactured an intelligent wearable device by the FBC method. For a single motor control, two knee auxiliary devices can generate a torsion of 18.6 Nm. For dual motor control, two knee auxiliary devices can generate a torsion of 43.2 Nm. Thus, the laborers can not only perform their work efficiently and safely but also reduce costs and raise the working market competitiveness.
