Lightweight, Soft Variable Stiffness Gel Spats for Walking Assistance

Abstract

With the rapid development of the aging society, many of the elderly people are in need of nursing care for their daily activities. Therefore, innovative technologies are needed to support the daily activities of elderly people and to lighten the heavy burden of nursing. We think the technology of soft actuators should be one of the key issues for developing such technologies. In this study, we focused on walking assistance for daily life and presented a preliminary work of developing novel poly vinyl chloride (PVC) gel actuator-based lightweight and soft wearable assistive spats for supporting the walking motion of human. The PVC gel devices are incorporated in the generally used spats. The stiffness of the gel spats can be actively varied with the applied DC field turned on and off. The gel spats have the characteristics of a simple structure, a lightweight, easy to put on and take off, and with a high flexibility. A prototype was tested in the motions of lifting a foot and walking. It was found that the integrated electromyogram (IEMG) and maximal voluntary contraction (%MVC) values of the rectus femoris muscle reduced with the assistance of the gel spats, which demonstrated the potential of the gel spats as a device for walking assistance.