Development of a passive switching cam mechanism for walking assistance using pneumatic artificial muscle

As the aged population increases, increasing numbers of people require walking support as the strength of their leg muscles deteriorates. We have developed a flexible power walking assistant system based on pneumatic artificial muscle. To date, the walking assistance effect of this approach has been validated in experiments, but few subjects were recruited. In the present study, we have incorporated pneumatic rubber artificial muscle into a new mechanism, enabling smaller and lighter weight devices for walking assistance. Unlike conventional mechanisms of this type, which require separate artificial muscles for each foot, our proposed mechanism assists both feet by a single artificial muscle. A prototype model of our proposed new mechanism was applied to artificial muscles, and its practicality was evaluated in operational experiments.