Design Of Rehabilitation Robot Research Articles

Modeling Analysis and Structural Design of Human Lower Limb Rehabilitation Robot

With the rapid development of science and technology, robots are widely used in rehabilitation training. According to the physiological structure of human lower limbs and gait characteristics of walking, a lower limb rehabilitation robot is designed in this paper. We design the structure in a form of exoskeleton with three degrees of freedom in which kinematics analysis is carried out by the D-H coordinate transformation method. And then we obtain the relationship between the end effector and the angle of each joint. In addition, the relationship between end effector speed and joint speed is obtained through Jacobian matrix and Lagrange equilibrium method is used for dynamic analysis. The joint torque is calculated through the joint speed and three dimensional modeling of lower limb rehabilitation robot was reconstructed by Pro-e. Finally, the driving mode is selected and calculated.

Design and development of platform ankle rehabilitation robot with Shape Memory Alloy based actuator.

Various ankle rehabilitation robots have been developed in the recent decade to improve ankle strength and mobility and to alleviate the burdens on clinicians and physiotherapists. However, existing designs have stiff actuating mechanism, heavy and bulky electromagnetic or pneumatic actuators. This paper introduces ankle rehabilitation robot that utilizes Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wire actuator to provide foot plantarflexion and dorsiflexion during rehabilitation exercise. SMA wire is a smart material that can contract when it is heated and expand back to its original shape when it is cooled. It also has high power to weight ratio. However, the SMA wire has low cooling rate thus limits its operating frequency. A periodical cooling mechanism is proposed here. Its efficacy is then evaluated against natural cooling and continuous forced convection. The experimental study shows promising results and demonstrates that periodical cooling has both the advantages of natural cooling and forced convection and can improve the cooling rate of SMA wire actuator.

Design and Optimization of a Hybrid-Driven Waist Rehabilitation Robot.

In this paper a waist rehabilitation robot driven by cables and pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) has been conceptualized and designed. In the process of mechanism design, the human body structure, the waist movement characteristics, and the actuators’ driving characteristics are the main considerable factors to make the hybrid-driven waist rehabilitation robot (HWRR) cost-effective, safe, flexible, and well-adapted. A variety of sensors are chosen to measure the position and orientation of the recovery patient to ensure patient safety at the same time as the structure design. According to the structure specialty and function, the HWRR is divided into two independent parallel robots: the waist twist device and the lower limb traction device. Then these two devices are analyzed and evaluated, respectively. Considering the characters of the human body in the HWRR, the inverse kinematics and statics are studied when the waist and the lower limb are considered as a spring and link, respectively. Based on the inverse kinematics and statics, the effect of the contraction parameter of the PAM is considered in the optimization of the waist twist device, and the lower limb traction device is optimized using particle swarm optimization (PSO) to minimize the global conditioning number over the feasible workspace. As a result of the optimization, an optimal rehabilitation robot design is obtained and the condition number of the Jacobian matrix over the feasible workspace is also calculated.

Bio-Inspired Design and Iterative Feedback Tuning Control of a Wearable Ankle Rehabilitation Robot

Robotic rehabilitation for ankle injuries offers several advantages in terms of precision, force accuracy, and task-specific training. While the existing platform-based ankle rehabilitation robots tend to provide a rotation center that does not coincide with the actual ankle joint. In this paper, a novel bio-inspired ankle rehabilitation robot was designed, which is wearable and can keep the participant's shank be stationary. The robot is redundantly actuated by four motors in parallel to offer three ankle rotation degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) with sufficient range of motion (ROM) and force capacity. To control the robotic rehabilitation device operated in a repetitive trajectory training manner, a model-free robust control method in form of iterative feedback tuning (IFT) is proposed to tune the robot controller parameters. Experiments were performed on the parallel ankle rehabilitation platform to investigate the efficacy of the design and the robustness of the IFT technique under real-life rehabilitation scenarios.

Design Of Smart Robot For Wrist Rehabilitation

Abstract Generally, the rehabilitation process needs a physical interactions between patients and therapists. Based on the principles governing such human-human interactions (HHI), the design of rehabilitation robots received several attempts in order to abstract the HHI in human-robot interaction (HRI). To achieve this goal, the rehabilitation robot should be smart and provides a useful and comprehensive platform to track the patient status. In this paper, a biofeedback-based high fidelity smart robot for wrist rehabilitation is designed. This robot is intended for repetitive exercises without therapist intervention. Hold the two sets of wrist movement: flexion/extension and radial/ulnar derivation. Distinguished by its compact mechanism design, the developed wrist rehabilitation robot (HRR) offers high stiffness with a total absence of any friction and backlash. Based on EMG signal, the smart robot can understand the patient pain degree. Two features extractions are used to estimate the pain level. A fuzzy logic controller is implemented in the LabVIEW-based human-machine interface (HMI) to determine the desired angle and velocity in real time. Parameters and results of each exercise can be stored and operated later in analysis and evolution of patient progress

The design and control of a 3DOF lower limb rehabilitation robot

Aiming to assist stroke patients who suffer from motor dysfunction after stroke and reduce the stress of physiotherapists, a 3-degree-of-freedom (3DOF) lower limb rehabilitation robot (LLRR) has been developed for the motion recovery in this paper. At first, a simple and flexible structure of LLRR is designed, which involves hip, knee and ankle joints and can also be adjusted to fit for the different heights of patients. Then, for the controller design, control-oriented model of LLRR is studied and validated by both simulation and experiments, including the kinematic model of mechanical system, friction model of rotation joints and motor model of actuators. Based on the proposed models, an adaptive robust sub-controller is synthesized to make each joint track its designed training trajectory, overcome system uncertainties and reject the disturbances from patient. At last, experiments are carried out to validate the proposed LLRR by the passive movement training.

Dynamical analysis and design of active orthoses for spinal cord injured subjects by aesthetic and energetic optimization

The dynamic analysis and simulation of human gait using multibody dynamics techniques has been a major area of research in the last decades. Nevertheless, not much attention has been paid to the analysis and simulation of robotic-assisted gait. Simulation is a very powerful tool both for assisting the design stage of active rehabilitation robots and predicting the subject–orthoses cooperation and the resulting aesthetic gait. This paper presents a parameter optimization approach that allows simulating gait motion patterns in the particular case of a subject with incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) wearing active knee–ankle–foot orthoses at both legs. The subject is modelled as a planar multibody system actuated through the main lower limb muscle groups. A muscle force-sharing problem is solved to obtain optimal muscle activation patterns. Furthermore, denervation of muscle groups caused by the SCI is parameterized to account for different injury severities. The active orthoses are modelled as external devices attached to the legs, and their dynamic and performance parameters are taken from a real prototype. Numerical results using energetic and aesthetic objective functions, and considering different SCI severities are obtained. Detailed discussions are given related to the different motion and actuation patterns both from muscles and orthoses. The proposed methodology opens new perspectives towards the prediction of human-assisted gait, which can be very helpful for the design of new rehabilitation robots.

Mechanical Analysis of a Hybrid Approach for a Lower Limb Rehabilitation Robot

The design of lower limb rehabilitation robot can be categorized into two approaches: the end-effector and the exoskeleton. Both types of the robots have different advantages and disadvantages. The exoskeleton type is designed to mimic the kinematic structure of the human skeleton by controlling hip and knee joints but the end-effector type is driven at the footplate which allows patients to perform various gait training exercise. In this paper, the end-effector and exoskeleton device are compared based on dynamical analysis using Matlab's Simechanics simulation. The hybrid lower limb rehabilitation robot is also proposed based on the exoskeleton robot with the adjustable mechanical coupling interface between human and robot and the active footplate. The hybrid design combines the advantages of both the exoskeleton and the end-effector by allowing the mechanical coupling parameters and the active footplate controller to be adjustable at different stages of training. The proposed design can improve both joints misalignment and joint trajectory tracking problems in both existing approaches.

A 3-PRS parallel manipulator for ankle rehabilitation: towards a low-cost robotic rehabilitation

SUMMARYThis paper presents the design, kinematics, dynamics and control of a low-cost parallel rehabilitation robot developed at the Universitat Politècnica de Valencia. Several position and force controllers have been tested to ensure accurate tracking performances. An orthopedic boot, equipped with a force sensor, has been placed over the platform of the parallel robot to perform exercises for injured ankles. Passive, active-assistive and active-resistive exercises have been implemented to train dorsi/plantar flexion, inversion and eversion ankle movements. In order to implement the controllers, the component-based middleware Orocos has been used with the advantage over other solutions that the whole scheme control can be implemented modularly. These modules are independent and can be configured and reconfigured in both configuration and runtime. This means that no specific knowledge is needed by medical staff, for example, to carry out rehabilitation exercises using this low-cost parallel robot. The integration between Orocos and ROS, with a CAD model displaying the actual position of the rehabilitation robot in real time, makes it possible to develop a teleoperation application. In addition, a teleoperated rehabilitation exercise can be performed by a specialist using a Wiimote (or any other Bluetooth device).

Development of Reconfigurable Rehabilitation Robot for Post-stroke Forearm and Wrist Training

Rehabilitation robots are gradually becoming popular for stroke rehabilitation to improve motor recovery, as robotic technology can assist, enhance, and further quantify rehabilitation training for stroke patients. However, most of the available rehabilitation robots are complex and involve multiple Degrees-Of-Freedoms (DOFs) causing it to be very expensive and huge in size. Rehabilitation robot needed to be useful but also should be cost-effective to be able to use in current rehabilitation process. This paper present the design of reconfigurable rehabilitation robot that able to adopt different training movement by changing the configuration of the device. The developed robotic system able to perform training for wrist, forearm and other functional rehabilitation training by using suitable modular units. Preliminary study with three stroke subject were presented to evaluate the functionality in different training modes for forearm and wrist rehabilitation training.

Design of rehabilitation robot with combined movement of arms and legs

Rehabilitation instruments are effective tools for patients to recover from disability. However, we still do not have a rehabilitation instrument which could provide combined movement with arms and legs. Rehabilitation with combined movement of arms and legs is completely a new method. In order to check the effect of this new rehabilitation method and to provide patients with more efficient rehabilitation instrument, we design a new rehabilitation robot. This robot lets patients practice when they lie down and stand up. This article explains the design of this instrument clearly. Using Unigraphics NX software to build 3D model, we have a complete design of this rehabilitation robot.

Design, analysis and experiment of finger soft actuator with nested structure for rehabilitation training

Compared with the rigid hand rehabilitation robot, the soft hand rehabilitation robot has the advantages of good flexibility, which is of great significance to its research. In order to make the soft hand rehabilitation robot have the advantages of high stiffness and simple manufacturing process, a nested structure is proposed for finger soft actuator in this paper. The nested structure consists of outer restraint structure and inner core structure. The inner core structure can realize deformation under the action of air pressure. The outer restraint structure can improve bending efficiency by restraining deformation in non-functional direction of inner core structure. On this basis, the processing technology of nested structure is designed, and the effect of structural parameters on performance is analyzed. In order to illustrate the advantages of nested structure, the performance of nested structure and fiber-constrained structure is compared by simulation, which includes bending angle, gripping force and expansion amount (by measuring the deformation of the cross section). The simulation results show the advantages of the nested structure. A prototype of the soft hand rehabilitation robot is developed with nested structure as finger soft actuator, and the experimental results prove the feasibility of design. The results of this study provide a reference for the structure design of soft hand rehabilitation robot.

Design and Experimental Research of Upper Gravity-Supporting Device on the Upper Limb Rehabilitation Robot

Due to the influence of robot arm’s and patient’s cantilever’s weight a drive motor with large drive torque was required in the design of upper-limb rehabilitation robot. In order to solve this problem, a new gravity-supporting system that combines gas spring and tension spring to provide supporting force was presented. Due to the use of this device in Upper Limb rehabilitation robot, the power and torque fluctuation of the driving motor can be reduced and the security and stability of robot can be increased. First of all, the movement mechanism was designed and the theoretical analysis is given to prove that it can reduce the driving torque of motor effectively. Three dimensional model of the device was created by Pro/E and was imported into ADAMS/view for the dynamic simulation and got the change curves of driving torque on the condition of the supporting device or not . In the end, the experimental data verify the application of the device that extreme driving torque of robot was decreased over 50%.

Kinematic Design Consideration Based on Actuator Placement of Five-Bar Planar Robot for Arm Rehabilitation

In the design of upper limb rehabilitation robots, critical issues to be considered are large workspace with minimum singularities to cover enough patients’ upper limb range of motion and higher manipulability for the patients to easily and freely move their arm with applying almost the same force to every direction in a given posture. This paper presents an analysis of the suggested kinematic design considerations of five-bar planar mechanism according to the actuator locations. A comparison between two different five-bar linkage types is given. Finally, several open challenges for the applicability of five-bar planar mechanisms are discussed from the kinematic point of view to upper limb rehabilitation robots.

Modeling and Force-Position Controller Design of Rehabilitation Robot for Human Arm Movements

Modeling and Force-Position Controller Design of Rehabilitation Robot for Human Arm Movements

Design and Dynamic Analysis of an Exoskeletal Lower Limbs Rehabilitation Robot

The supply of traditional rehabilitation equipment can not satisfy the need of more and more paraplegia patients at present. A new exoskeletal rehabilitation robot is developed. The robot consists of two mechanical legs and an automatic seat. The length of the legs can be adjusted to fit different patients. Each mechanical leg has three degrees of freedom(DOF), just like the hip, the knee and the ankle joints. The patient can sit or lie in the seat. The functions of the robot are introduced, such as the robot technical parameters; the structure and the driving mode of the mechanical leg; the length adjusting function of the thigh and the calf; the multiple protection measures with the extreme revolving range of the 3 joints; the installation of the electric hardware. The human-machine integration model of the robot is established, and then the kinematics and the dynamics are analyzed and simulated with ADAMS software. The clinical experiments prove that the patients and the doctors are satisfied with the operation, safety and motion control. But the rehabilitation effect needs to be validated further.The clinical experiment results are compared with the simulation date of the tortile sensors and the main distinction matters are analyzed.

Design and preliminary evaluation of the FINGER rehabilitation robot: controlling challenge and quantifying finger individuation during musical computer game play

BackgroundThis paper describes the design and preliminary testing of FINGER (Finger Individuating Grasp Exercise Robot), a device for assisting in finger rehabilitation after neurologic injury. We developed FINGER to assist stroke patients in moving their fingers individually in a naturalistic curling motion while playing a game similar to Guitar Hero®a. The goal was to make FINGER capable of assisting with motions where precise timing is important.MethodsFINGER consists of a pair of stacked single degree-of-freedom 8-bar mechanisms, one for the index and one for the middle finger. Each 8-bar mechanism was designed to control the angle and position of the proximal phalanx and the position of the middle phalanx. Target positions for the mechanism optimization were determined from trajectory data collected from 7 healthy subjects using color-based motion capture. The resulting robotic device was built to accommodate multiple finger sizes and finger-to-finger widths. For initial evaluation, we asked individuals with a stroke (n = 16) and without impairment (n = 4) to play a game similar to Guitar Hero® while connected to FINGER.ResultsPrecision design, low friction bearings, and separate high speed linear actuators allowed FINGER to individually actuate the fingers with a high bandwidth of control (−3 dB at approximately 8 Hz). During the tests, we were able to modulate the subject’s success rate at the game by automatically adjusting the controller gains of FINGER. We also used FINGER to measure subjects’ effort and finger individuation while playing the game.ConclusionsTest results demonstrate the ability of FINGER to motivate subjects with an engaging game environment that challenges individuated control of the fingers, automatically control assistance levels, and quantify finger individuation after stroke.

Perspectives on human-human sensorimotor interactions for the design of rehabilitation robots.

Physical interactions between patients and therapists during rehabilitation have served as motivation for the design of rehabilitation robots, yet we lack a fundamental understanding of the principles governing such human-human interactions (HHI). Here we review the literature and pose important open questions regarding sensorimotor interaction during HHI that could facilitate the design of human-robot interactions (HRI) and haptic interfaces for rehabilitation. Based on the goals of physical rehabilitation, three subcategories of sensorimotor interaction are identified: sensorimotor collaboration, sensorimotor assistance, and sensorimotor education. Prior research has focused primarily on sensorimotor collaboration and is generally limited to relatively constrained visuomotor tasks. Moreover, the mechanisms by which performance improvements are achieved during sensorimotor cooperation with haptic interaction remains unknown. We propose that the effects of role assignment, motor redundancy, and skill level in sensorimotor cooperation should be explicitly studied. Additionally, the importance of haptic interactions may be better revealed in tasks that do not require visual feedback. Finally, cooperative motor tasks that allow for motor improvement during solo performance to be examined may be particularly relevant for rehabilitation robotics. Identifying principles that guide human-human sensorimotor interactions may lead to the development of robots that can physically interact with humans in more intuitive and biologically inspired ways, thereby enhancing rehabilitation outcomes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1743-0003-11-142) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Mechanism Design and Kinematics Positive Solution of the Exoskeleton Upper Limb Rehabilitation Robot with 6-DOF

According to the clinical rehabilitation medicine theory and the characteristics of human upper limb rehabilitation robot, a dexterous rehabilitation mechanical arm with 6-DOF is designed to satisfy the need of rehabilitation in this paper. By analyzing the six cases of the 3-DOF serial distribution and the kinematic relation of the shoulder joint, the spherical joint motion of the shoulder joint is achieved by using the circular arc guide rail. Two serial mechanism approaches of the shoulder joint using PRR and RRP type are provided. After comparing these designs, the PRR type is selected, the kinematics positive solution of this type is given.

뇌졸중환자를 위한 직교형 4개 손가락 재활로봇 기구설계

This paper describes the design of a rectangular-type four-finger rehabilitation robot for flexibility rehabilitation of stroke patients' fingers and other patient's paralyzed fingers. The four-finger rehabilitation robot is composed of a body and each finger rehabilitation robot instrument. The four-finger rehabilitation robot could exercise four fingers (forefinger, middle finger ring finger and little finger) of patient for their rehabilitation. The four-finger rehabilitation robot instruments move according to the trace which spread out the patient's fingers and then turn them inward for the fingers' flexibility, while at the same time performing the force control with the reference forces for fingers' safety, simultaneously. A control characteristic test of the developed rectangular-type four-finger rehabilitation robot was carried out, and the results confirmed that the robot could be used for the flexibility rehabilitation exercise for the fingers of normal person and patients.