Mech. Mach. Theory: T. A. Stolarski, 24, 363–372 (1989)

Abstract

In the previous rehabilitation robot research, the proposed ankle models for rehabilitation robot design have distinctions with the ankle bone structure. It leads to the unsatisfactory human-machine compatibility of the robots constructed based on the fitting onto the motion of these models. For this problem, 6 motion fitting models having higher similarities with ankle bone structure are proposed. For constructing a generalized spherical parallel mechanism (GSPM) with the same kinematic characteristics with these models, a module combination configuration synthesis method is presented. This method establishes the GSPM with partially decoupled characteristics by combining position and orientation modules. Firstly, this method constructs basic limbs/groups of 2 modules based on enumeration and screw theory. Secondly, a class of compact equivalent limbs and groups are constructed by equivalent replacement method based on basic limbs and groups. Thirdly, with the equivalent group being an example, the kinematics of 2 modules are analyzed based on the D-H method and their geometric characteristics, a module combination kinematic analysis method is summarized. Finally, 6 suitable GSPMs are established based on these methods.