열간 단조용 작업보조로봇 개발 및 근전도 신호를 이용한 성능 평가

Hot forging industry workers are prone to encounter several health risks due to lack of automation and poor working environment conditions. These workers particularly suffer from muscle fatigue owing to the constant handling of heavy products during the forging process. Thus we developed an assistant robot for workers who carry out hot forging tasks. The purpose of a robot is to compensate gravity-loads for heavy products. To verify the functionality of a robot, we performed a muscle fatigue analysis using Electromyography (EMG) signals. Four muscles of the upper extremity were chosen to measure muscle activity. And experiment conditions were setup to imitate the hot forging process. Post experimental analysis of the captured muscle activity revealed a reduction in the median frequency of the EMG signals, which means clear fatigue reduction due to a robot’s assistance. The developed assist robot with compact and economical components can be efficiently utilized at forging work sites to create better working conditions for operators.