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Prof. Kazuo
Kiguchi
kiguchi@me.saga-u.ac.jp
Department of Advanced Technology Fusion, Saga
University,
Japan
 Kazuo
Kiguchi
received the Bachelor of Engineering degree in
mechanical engineering from Niigata University, Japan in
1986, the Master of Applied Science degree in mechanical
engineering from the University of Ottawa, Canada in
1993, and the Doctor of Engineering degree from Nagoya
University, Japan in 1997.
He
was a Research Engineer with Mazda Motor Co. between
1986 and 1989, and with MHI Aerospace Systems Co.
between 1989 and 1991. He worked for the Dept. of
Industrial and Systems Engineering, Niigata College of
Technology, Japan between 1994 and 1999. He is currently
a professor in the Dept. of Advanced Technology Fusion,
Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saga
University, Japan. His research interests include
biorobotics, intelligent robots, and application of
robotics in medicine. He is a member of the Robotics
Society of Japan, IEEE (R&A, SMC, and EMB Societies),
the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society
of Instrument and Control Engineers, the Japan Society
of Computer Aided Surgery, the Virtual Reality Society
of Japan, and the Japanese Society for Clinical
Biomechanics and Related Research.
Realization of Power-Assist Robots
Power-assist exoskeleton robots, which are sometimes
called as power suits, man amplifiers, or man
magnifiers, are expected to play an important role in
many fields such as industry, military, medicine, etc..
The power-assist exoskeleton robot is directly worn by a
user and directly assists the user’s motion. It is
important that the power-assist exoskeleton robot
automatically assists the user’s motion according to the
user’s motion intension in real-time. Electromyographic
(EMG) signal, which is generated when muscles are
activated, is one of the most important biological
signals to figure out the user’s motion intension in
real-time since the amount of the EMG signal indicates
the muscle activity level (i.e., the amount of
generating force by muscles). In this tutorial, how the
power-assist exoskeleton robots should be designed and
controlled based on EMG signals will be discussed. |
