Journal Archive

International Journal of Costume and Fashion - Vol. 20 , No. 2

[ Article ]
International Journal of Costume and Fashion - Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 11-22
Abbreviation: IJCF
ISSN: 2233-9051 (Print) 2288-7490 (Online)
Print publication date 31 Dec 2020
Received 25 Jun 2020 Revised 21 Sep 2020 Accepted 31 Oct 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7233/ijcf.2020.20.2.011

Mapping of Human Contact Areas for Application Field of Wearable Robots
Ran-i Eom ; Yejin Lee
Researcher, Research Institute of Human Ecology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, South Korea
Professor, Department of Clothing & Textiles, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, South Korea

Correspondence to : yejin@cnu.ac.kr

Funding Information ▼

Citation Eom, R., & Lee, Y. (2020). Mapping of human contact areas for application field of wearable robots. International Journal of Costume and Fashion, 20(2), 11-22.


Abstract

This study investigated the current state of various wearable robot technology companies to collect basic data to develop clothing suitable for wearable robots. The companies were examined country-wise and classified by their field of application. Furthermore, body mapping was performed on the human contact areas of the wearable robots according to the field of application. The results showed that most wearable robot technology companies are situated in Europe, Asia, and North America. Classifying wearable robots by the field of application yielded that 50.0%(N=39) were applicable for rehabilitation/ healthcare, 37.2% (N=29) for industrial use, 10.3% (N=8) for military, and 2.6%(N=2) for sports. The body mapping showed that the contact areas of the rehabilitation/healthcare products could be classified as hand, arm, upper body, lower body, foot, and whole body. These types of products have the most diverse categories of contact areas among all the product categories. Industrial products were classified into waist, upper body, lower body, and whole body; their distinctive feature is that the corresponding wearable robots assist only the waist area. Military products were designed to cover the whole body for protection. Sports products were produced for the lower body only.


Keywords: Wearable robot, Exoskeleton robot, Market condition, Body mapping, Contact area

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government. (MSIT) (2019R1A2C1005598)


References
1. Againer. (n.d.). Againer. Againer. Retrieved from http://againer-ski.com/
2. Atlas. (n.d.). Atlas. Atlas. Retrieved from https://www.japet.eu/
3. Archelis. (n.d.). Archelis. Archelis. Retrieved from https://www.archelis.com/
4. Bang, C., Lee, J., Huh, Y., Park, E., & Kwon, J. (2014). A survey of firefighters regarding their satisfaction with fire-protect clothing in field activities of fire fighting. Journal of Basic Sciences, 31, 107-115.
5. Bae, Y., Lee, C. H., Yang, S., Jung, J., Kim, S., Kang, G., & Hong, C. (2018). Development of guideline for the pre-market approval of medical device for rehabilitation robot in Korea. Regulatory Research on Food, Drug and Cosmetic, 13(1), 13-23.
6. Bae, Y. J. (2016). A study on the future clothing trend in Korea - based on the future research by 2040. Journal of the Korean Society of Fashion Design, 16(4), 151-162.
7. Bae, Y. J., & Ha, J. S. (2017). A delphi study to forecast future clothing trends in Korea. Journal of the Korean Society of Fashion Design, 17(1), 155-168.
8. Bae, H., & Kim, M. (2012). The work environment and wearing conditions of industrial protective clothing in shipbuilding workshops. Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, 36(5), 512-522.
9. Chung, M., Park, S., Shin, J., Koshiba, T., & Tamura, T. (2006). Evaluation of physiological responses and comfort of protective clothing using charcoal printing. Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, 30(6), 981-991.
10. Cyberdyne. (n.d.). HAL Lumbar type for labor support. Cyberdyne. Retrieved from https://www.cyberdyne.jp/english/
11. Europe Technologies. (n.d.-a). Guardian™ XO. Europe Technologies. Retrieved from https://gobio-robot.com/
12. Europe Technologies. (n.d.-b). IP12. Europe Technologies. Retrieved from https://gobio-robot.com/
13. Europe Technologies. (n.d.-c). IP14. Europe Technologies. Retrieved from https://gobio-robot.com/
14. Exoatlet. (n.d.). EAM. Exoatlet. Retrieved from www.exoatletasia.com
15. Exoskeleton Report. (n.d.). List of exoskeleton companies, businesses and startups:Exoskeleton Report. Exoskeleton Report. Retrieved from https://exoskeletonreport.com/2015/02/businesses-that-have-or-are-exploring-exoskeleton-products-in-alphabetical-order/
16. Fourier Intelligence. (n.d.-a). Fourier M2. Fourier Intelligence. Retrieved from http://www.fftai.com/
17. Fourier Intelligence. (n.d.-b). Fourier X1. Fourier Intelligence. Retrieved from http://www.fftai.com/
18. Ha, T., Lee, J., Back, S., Kim, S. H., & Lee, J. Y. (2012). Wearable robot design for industrial application. Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering, 29(4), 433-440.
19. Han, B., Park, S., Cho, H., Kang, B., Kim, J., Lee, J., ... Lee, H. (2017). An exploratory study of searching human body segments for motion sensors of smart sportswear: Focusing on rowing motion. Korean Journal of the Science of Emotion & Sensibility, 20(1), 17-30.
20. Intespring. (n.d.). EXOBUDDY. Intespring. Retrieved from http://www.intespring.nl/#exo
21. Jang, H. Y., Han, C. S., Kim, T. S., Jang, J. H., & Han, J. S. (2008). Development of wearable robot for elbow motion assistance of elderly. Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering, 25(3), 141-146.
22. Jang, J. H., Lee, H. D., Jang, H. Y., Han, J. S., Han, C. S., & Shon, W. H. (2009). Development of wearable robot system based the analysis of the lower limbs. Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering, 26(7), 7-14.
23. Jang, J., & Song, U. (2016). Technology status of wearable robots. Journal of the KSME, 56(2), 42-46.
24. Kang, Y. (2012). An analysis of the preferred ease of torso sloper by body size. Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, 36(1), 112-125.
25. Kim, D. (2019). An overview of technology development on military unmanned ground vehicle. Korea Institute of Information Technology Magazine, 17(2), 21-27.
26. Kim, H., & Kim, J. (2017). Development of an intelligent legged walking rehabilitation robot. Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers, 41(9), 825-837.
27. Kim, H. S., Koo, D. S., Nam, Y. J., Cho, K., & Kim, S. (2019). Research on technology status and development direction of wearable robot. Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing Industry, 21(5), 640-655.
28. Kim, I., Kim, K., Chae, H., Kim, H., & Kim, K. (2017). Analysis of patent trends in industrial information and communication technology convergence: Personal protection and convenience equipment applicable to agriculture. The Korean Journal of Community Living Science, 28(3), 377-390.
29. Kim, J. (2018). Use of robots as a creative approach in healthcare ICT. Healthcare Informatics Research, 24(3), 155-156.
30. Kim, J. (2013). Development of thigh muscular strength assistance robot for workers. Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers, 22(3-1), 622-628.
31. Kim, T., Song, M. K., Lee, C. M., & Kwon, K. (2018). Thermal comfort of the sports/leisure clothing with the heat storage/reflection function -wearing evaluation under the condition of 0±1 °C and 50±5% RH. Fashion & Textile Research Journal, 20(4), 474-481.
32. Kim, Y. (2015). Design development of outdoor wear for trail running. Journal of the Korean society of Costume, 55(3), 151-166.
33. Kim, Y. (2016). Design development of men`s outdoor wear for mountain bike. Journal of the Korean society of Fashion Design, 16(4), 109-127.
34. Kinetek. (n.d.). ALEx. Kinetek. Retrieved from http://www.wearable-robotics.com/kinetek/
35. Lee, H., & Han, C. (2014). Technical trend of the lower limb exoskeleton system for the performance enhancement. Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems, 20(3), 364-371.
36. Lee, J., & Suh, M. (2010). Slacks purchase realities and wearing satisfaction focused on old-aged women. The Research Journal of the Costume Culture, 18(3), 541-549.
37. Lee, S., Lee, S., & Kim, J. (2015). Development of elbow wearable robot for elderly workers. Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers-A, 39(6), 617-624.
38. Lenzi, T., Vitiello, N., De Rossi, S. M. M., Persichetti, A., Giovacchini, F., Roccella, S., & Carrozza, M. C. (2011). Measuring human–robot interaction on wearable robots: A distributed approach. Mechatronics, 21(6), 1123-1131.
39. Li, H., Cheng, W., Liu, F., Zhang, M., & Wang, K. (2018). The effects on muscle activity and discomfort of varying load carriage with and without an augmentation exoskeleton. Applied Sciences, 8(12), 2638.
40. Medi Touch. (n.d.). Arm Tutor. Medi Touch. Retrieved from https://meditouch.co.il/
41. Medexo Robotics. (n.d.). WalkAid. Medexo Robotics. Retrieved from http://medexorobotics.com/
42. Mengüç, Y., Park, Y. L., Pei, H., Vogt, D., Aubin, P. M., Winchell, E., & Walsh, C. J. (2014). Wearable soft sensing suit for human gait measurement. International Journal of Robotics Research, 33(14), 1748-1764.
43. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. (n.d.). Power Assist Suit. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Retrieved from https://www.mhi.com/
44. Myomo. (n.d.). MyoPro Orthosis. Myomo. Retrieved from https://myomo.com/index.asp
45. Nimawat, D., & Jailiya, P. R. S. (2015). Requirement of wearable robots in current scenario. European Journal of Advances in Engineering and Technology, 2(2), 19-23.
46. Novak, D., & Riener, R. (2015). A survey of sensor fusion methods in wearable robotics. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 73, 155-170.
47. Ottobock. (n.d.). Paexo. Ottobock. Retrieved from https://www.ottobock.com/en/
48. Park, J., & Kim, H. (2007). Body shape variations measurements with 3D scanner for wearing foundation. Fashion & Textile Research Journal, 9(6), 651-657.
49. Phase X. (n.d.). Exo legs. Phase X. Retrieved from http://www.phasexab.com/
50. Rehab-robotics. (n.d.). Hand of hope. Retrieved from Rehab-robotics. Retrieved from http://www.rehab-robotics.com/index.html
51. Raytheon. (n.d.). XOS 2. Raytheon Retrieved from https://www.raytheon.com/rtn-search?query=xos
52. Ski~mojo. (n.d.). SKI MOJO. Ski~mojo. Retrieved from https://www.skimojo.com/?v=38dd815e66db
53. SRI International. (n.d.). Super Flex Exosuit. SRI International. Retrieved from https://www.sri.com/
54. Totaro, M., Poliero, T., Mondini, A., Lucarotti, C., Cairoli, G., Ortiz, J., & Beccai, L. (2017). Soft smart garments for lower limb joint position analysis. Sensors, 17(10), 2314.
55. Yoon. Y. H. (2018). Back support exoskeleton robot for soldiers: military applicability analysis. Journal of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering, 35(10), 925-931.