Upper-Limb Muscle Synergy Features in Human-Robot Interaction with Circle-Drawing Movements

The upper-limb rehabilitation robots can be developed as an efficient tool for motor function assessments. Circle-drawing has been used as a specific task for robot-based motor function measurement. The upper-limb movement-related kinematic and kinetic parameters measured by motion and force sensors embedded in the rehabilitation robots have been widely studied. However, the muscle synergies characterized by multiple surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals in upper limbs during human-robot interaction (HRI) with circle-drawing movements are rarely investigated. In this research, the robot-assisted and constrained circle-drawing movements for upper limb were used to increase the consistency of muscle synergy features. Both clockwise and counterclockwise circle-drawing tasks were implemented by all healthy subjects using right hands. The sEMG signals were recorded from six muscles in upper limb, and nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) analysis was utilized to obtain muscle synergy information. Both synergy pattern and activation coefficient were calculated to represent the spatial and temporal features of muscle synergies, respectively. The results obtained from the experimental study confirmed that high structural similarity of muscle synergies was found among the subjects during HRI with circle-drawing movement by healthy subjects, which indicates healthy people may share a common underlying muscle control mechanism during constrained upper-limb circle-drawing movement. This study indicates the muscle synergy analysis during the HRI with constrained circle-drawing movement could be considered as a task for upper-limb motor function assessment.

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Passivity and Stability of Human–Robot Interaction Control for Upper-Limb Rehabilitation Robots

IEEE Transactions on Robotics ◽

10.1109/tro.2015.2392451 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 233-245 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

Juanjuan Zhang ◽

Chien Chern Cheah

Keyword(s):

Upper Limb ◽

Human Robot Interaction ◽

Robot Interaction ◽

Upper Limb Rehabilitation ◽

Interaction Control ◽

Rehabilitation Robots ◽

Limb Rehabilitation

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Assessing User Transparency with Muscle Synergies during Exoskeleton-Assisted Movements: A Pilot Study on the LIGHTarm Device for Neurorehabilitation

Applied Bionics and Biomechanics ◽

10.1155/2018/7647562 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2018 ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Andrea Chiavenna ◽

Alessandro Scano ◽

Matteo Malosio ◽

Lorenzo Molinari Tosatti ◽

Franco Molteni

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Upper Limb ◽

Surface Electromyography ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Daily Life ◽

Muscle Synergy ◽

Muscle Synergies ◽

Gravity Compensation ◽

Weight Support ◽

Desirable Feature

Exoskeleton devices for upper limb neurorehabilitation are one of the most exploited solutions for the recovery of lost motor functions. By providing weight support, passively compensated exoskeletons allow patients to experience upper limb training. Transparency is a desirable feature of exoskeletons that describes how the device alters free movements or interferes with spontaneous muscle patterns. A pilot study on healthy subjects was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of assessing transparency in the framework of muscle synergies. For such purpose, the LIGHTarm exoskeleton prototype was used. LIGHTarm provides gravity support to the upper limb during the execution of movements in the tridimensional workspace. Surface electromyography was acquired during the execution of three daily life movements (reaching, hand-to-mouth, and hand-to-nape) in three different conditions: free movement, exoskeleton-assisted (without gravity compensation), and exoskeleton-assisted (with gravity compensation) on healthy people. Preliminary results suggest that the muscle synergy framework may provide valuable assessment of user transparency and weight support features of devices aimed at rehabilitation.

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Quantitative Assessment of Motor Function for Patients with a Stroke by an End-Effector Upper Limb Rehabilitation Robot

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2020/5425741 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Yali Liu ◽

Qiuzhi Song ◽

Chong Li ◽

Xinyu Guan ◽

Linhong Ji

Keyword(s):

Motor Function ◽

Upper Limb ◽

Quantitative Assessment ◽

Assessment Method ◽

Rehabilitation Robot ◽

Training Process ◽

Movement Accuracy ◽

Rehabilitation Robots ◽

Point To Point ◽

Circle Drawing

With the popularization of rehabilitation robots, it is necessary to develop quantitative motor function assessment methods for patients with a stroke. To make the assessment equipment easier to use in clinics and combine the assessment methods with the rehabilitation training process, this paper proposes an anthropomorphic rehabilitation robot based on the basic movement patterns of the upper limb, point-to-point reaching and circle drawing movement. This paper analyzes patients’ movement characteristics in aspects of movement range, movement accuracy, and movement smoothness and the output force characteristics by involving 8 patients. Besides, a quantitative assessment method is also proposed based on multivariate fitting methods. It can be concluded that the area of the real trajectory and movement accuracy during circle drawing movement as well as the ratio of force along the sagittal axis in backward point-to-point movement are the unique parameters that are different remarkably between stroke patients and healthy subjects. The fitting function has a high goodness of fit with the Fugl-Meyer scores for the upper limb (R2=0.91, p=0.015), which demonstrates that the fitting function can be used to assess patients’ upper limb movement function. The indicators are recorded during training movement, and the fitting function can calculate the scores immediately, which makes the functional assessment quantitative and timely. Combining the training process and assessment, the quantitative assessment method will farther expand the application of rehabilitation robots.

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Human-robot coupling modeling and analysis for upper limb rehabilitation robots

Technology and Health Care ◽

10.3233/thc-202424 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Qiaolian Xie ◽

Qiaoling Meng ◽

Yue Dai ◽

Qingxin Zeng ◽

Yuanjie Fan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Upper Limb ◽

Dynamic Control ◽

Human Robot Interaction ◽

Rehabilitation Robot ◽

Robot Interaction ◽

Upper Limb Rehabilitation ◽

Modeling And Analysis ◽

Rehabilitation Robots ◽

Human Arm ◽

Limb Rehabilitation

BACKGROUND: Upper limb rehabilitation robots have become an important piece of equipment in stroke rehabilitation. Human-robot coupling (HRC) dynamics play a key role in the control of rehabilitation robots to improve human-robot interaction. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to study the methods of modeling and analysis of HRC dynamics to realize more accurate dynamic control of upper limb rehabilitation robots. METHODS: By the analysis of force interaction between the human arm and the upper limb rehabilitation robot, the HRC torque is achieved by summing up the robot torque and the human arm torque. The HRC torque and robot torque of a 2-DOF upper limb rehabilitation robot (FLEXO-Arm) are solved by Lagrangian equation and step-by-step dynamic parameters identification method. RESULTS: The root mean square (RMS) is used to evaluate the accuracy of the HRC torque and the robot torque calculated by the parameter identification, and the error of both is about 10%. Moreover, the HRC torque and the robot torque are compared with the actual torque measured by torque sensors. The error of the robot torque is more than twice the HRC. Therefore, the HRC torque is more accurate than the actual torque. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed HRC dynamics effectively achieves more accurate dynamic control of upper limb rehabilitation robots.

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Kinematic dexterity analysis of human-robot interaction of an upper limb rehabilitation robot

Technology and Health Care ◽

10.3233/thc-202633 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Qing Sun ◽

Shuai Guo ◽

Leigang Zhang

Keyword(s):

Upper Limb ◽

Constraint Equation ◽

Human Robot Interaction ◽

Rehabilitation Robot ◽

Connecting Rod ◽

Robot Interaction ◽

Upper Limb Rehabilitation ◽

Rehabilitation Training ◽

Limb Rehabilitation ◽

Training Trajectory

BACKGROUND: The definition of rehabilitation training trajectory is of great significance during rehabilitation training, and the dexterity of human-robot interaction motion provides a basis for selecting the trajectory of interaction motion. OBJECTIVE: Aimed at the kinematic dexterity of human-robot interaction, a velocity manipulability ellipsoid intersection volume (VMEIV) index is proposed for analysis, and the dexterity distribution cloud map is obtained with the human-robot cooperation space. METHOD: Firstly, the motion constraint equation of human-robot interaction is established, and the Jacobian matrix is obtained based on the speed of connecting rod. Then, the Monte Carlo method and the cell body segmentation method are used to obtain the collaborative space of human-robot interaction, and the VMEIV of human-robot interaction is solved in the cooperation space. Finally, taking the upper limb rehabilitation robot as the research object, the dexterity analysis of human-robot interaction is carried out by using the index of the approximate volume of the VMEIV. RESULTS: The results of the simulation and experiment have a certain consistency, which indicates that the VMEIV index is effective as an index of human-robot interaction kinematic dexterity. CONCLUSIONS: The VMEIV index can measure the kinematic dexterity of human-robot interaction, and provide a reference for the training trajectory selection of rehabilitation robot.

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Stable human-robot interaction control for upper-limb rehabilitation robotics

2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation ◽

10.1109/icra.2013.6630873 ◽

2013 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Juanjuan Zhang ◽

Chien Chern Cheah ◽

Steven H. Collins

Keyword(s):

Upper Limb ◽

Rehabilitation Robotics ◽

Human Robot Interaction ◽

Robot Interaction ◽

Upper Limb Rehabilitation ◽

Interaction Control ◽

Limb Rehabilitation

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Design and verification of a human–robot interaction system for upper limb exoskeleton rehabilitation

Medical Engineering & Physics ◽

10.1016/j.medengphy.2020.01.016 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 79 ◽

pp. 19-25

Author(s):

Wang Wendong ◽

Li Hanhao ◽

Xiao Menghan ◽

Chu Yang ◽

Yuan Xiaoqing ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Upper Limb ◽

Human Robot Interaction ◽

Robot Interaction ◽

Upper Limb Exoskeleton ◽

Interaction System

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A Novel Calibration Algorithm for Cable-Driven Parallel Robots with Application to Rehabilitation

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app9112182 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. 2182 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Han Yuan ◽

Xianghui You ◽

Yongqing Zhang ◽

Wenjing Zhang ◽

Wenfu Xu

Keyword(s):

Calibration Method ◽

Parallel Robot ◽

Parallel Robots ◽

Human Robot Interaction ◽

Automatic Calibration ◽

Unknown Parameters ◽

Robot Interaction ◽

Geometric Calibration ◽

Rehabilitation Robots ◽

Calibration Algorithm

Cable-driven parallel robots are suitable candidates for rehabilitation due to their intrinsic flexibility and adaptability, especially considering the safety of human–robot interaction. However, there are still some challenges to apply cable-driven parallel robots to rehabilitation, one of which is the geometric calibration. This paper proposes a new automatic calibration method that is applicable for cable-driven parallel rehabilitation robots. The key point of this method is to establish the mapping between the unknown parameters to be calibrated and the parameters that could be measured by the inner sensors and then use least squares algorithm to find the solutions. Specifically, the unknown parameters herein are the coordinates of the attachment points, and the measured parameters are the lengths of the redundant cables. Simulations are performed on a 3-DOF parallel robot driven by four cables for validation. Results show that the proposed calibration method could precisely find the real coordinate values of the attachment points, with errors less than 10 − 12 mm. Trajectory simulations also indicate that the positioning accuracy of the cable-driven parallel robot (CDPR) could be greatly improved after calibration using the proposed method.

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A Review on Design of Upper Limb Exoskeletons

Robotics ◽

10.3390/robotics9010016 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 16 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Muhammad Ahsan Gull ◽

Shaoping Bai ◽

Thomas Bak

Keyword(s):

Upper Limb ◽

Interdisciplinary Research ◽

Daily Living ◽

Human Robot Interaction ◽

Technology Research ◽

Robot Interaction ◽

Future Directions ◽

New Era ◽

General Classification ◽

Exoskeleton Robotics

Exoskeleton robotics has ushered in a new era of modern neuromuscular rehabilitation engineering and assistive technology research. The technology promises to improve the upper-limb functionalities required for performing activities of daily living. The exoskeleton technology is evolving quickly but still needs interdisciplinary research to solve technical challenges, e.g., kinematic compatibility and development of effective human–robot interaction. In this paper, the recent development in upper-limb exoskeletons is reviewed. The key challenges involved in the development of assistive exoskeletons are highlighted by comparing available solutions. This paper provides a general classification, comparisons, and overview of the mechatronic designs of upper-limb exoskeletons. In addition, a brief overview of the control modalities for upper-limb exoskeletons is also presented in this paper. A discussion on the future directions of research is included.

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