Wire-Based Assistance Apparatus for Directional Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing assistance technologies for guiding users in walking directions often require users to focus on screens, reducing external awareness, and lack effective methods to apply assisting forces using wires to guide users in specific walking directions.
Innovation Solution
An assistance apparatus comprising an upper body belt, knee belts, and wires that apply tension to assist users in turning by strategically adjusting wire tensions based on sensor feedback to guide users in target directions, ensuring continuous assistance or stopping if wires are broken.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a display screen is used to guide users in walking directions, then guidance information can be provided to users, but users may concentrate on the display screen and attention to external environment decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the visual display screen guidance system with a mechanical wire-based force application system. Instead of using optical/electronic displays that require user attention, the system uses motors to generate tension in wires that physically guide the user's body movement, substituting electronic information delivery with mechanical force guidance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces wires as intermediary elements between the control system and the user. These wires transmit guiding forces from the motors to the user's body, acting as a mechanical mediator that conveys directional information through physical force rather than visual information, thereby eliminating the need for the user to focus on a display screen.
2Force
If wire tension is increased to provide stronger assistance, then guiding force is improved, but risk of wire breakage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic tension control where the motor adjusts wire tension in real-time based on the user's movement state and guidance requirements. The system generates tension larger than or equal to a first threshold during normal operation, and larger than or equal to a second threshold (higher than the first) when compensating for wire breakage, allowing optimal force application while monitoring wire integrity through sensors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates sensors that detect wire breakage before it compromises safety, and the control system is pre-programmed with compensation strategies. When wire breakage is detected, the system immediately adjusts tension distribution to other wires to maintain guidance functionality, providing a cushioning effect that prevents complete system failure.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple wires are used to provide comprehensive assistance, then guidance capability is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the guidance system into multiple independent wire segments, each controlled by its own motor. This segmentation allows the system to provide comprehensive assistance through coordinated wire tension while managing complexity by treating each wire-motor pair as an independent controllable unit with standardized control logic.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs the wire system with universal control principles where the same motor and sensor components serve multiple functions. Each motor can generate tension in different wires at different times, and the control system applies unified tension thresholds (first threshold for normal operation, second threshold for compensation) across all wires, reducing operational complexity despite having multiple wires.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively guides users in walking directions without requiring screen focus, ensuring safe navigation by applying appropriate assisting forces and notifying users of system failures through adjusted wire tensions.
Implementation Method 1
the motor generates a tension larger than or equal to a first threshold in each of the second wire, the fourth wire, the sixth wire, and the eighth wire
Data Source
AI summary
An assistance apparatus includes first to eighth wires that couple an upper body belt to be worn on an upper body of a user to a first knee belt and a second knee belt to be worn above a left knee and a right knee of the user, respectively, and a motor. When the assistance apparatus assists the user in turning left, the motor generates a tension larger than or equal to a first threshold in each of the second wire, the fourth wire, the sixth wire, and the eighth wire. When the fourth wire or the second wire is broken, the motor changes the wire in which a tension is generated.