scholarly journals Mechanical Design and Control System Development of a Rehabilitation Robotic System for Walking With Arm Swing

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Fang ◽  
Kenneth J. Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Impedance Control ◽  
Tracking Error ◽  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Gait Training ◽  
Robotic System ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Dynamic Force ◽  
Arm Swing

Background: Interlimb neural coupling implies that arm swing should be included during gait training to improve rehabilitation outcomes. We previously developed several systems for production of walking with arm swing, but the reaction forces on the foot sole during usage of the systems were not satisfactory and there was potential to improve control system performance. This work aimed to design and technically evaluate a novel system for producing walking with synchronised arm and leg movement and with dynamic force loading on the foot soles.Methods: The robotic system included a passive curved treadmill and a trunk frame, upon which the rigs for the upper and lower limbs were mounted. Ten actuators and servocontrollers with EtherCAT communication protocol controlled the bilateral shoulder, elbow, hip, knee and ankle joints. Impedance control algorithms were developed and ran in an industrial PC. Flexible pressure sensors recorded the plantar forces on the foot soles. The criteria of implementation and responsiveness were used to formally evaluate the technical feasibility of the system.Results: Using impedance algorithms, the system produced synchronous walking with arm swing on the curved treadmill, with mean RMS angular tracking error <2° in the 10 joint profiles. The foot trajectories relative to the hip presented similar shapes to those during normal gait, with mean RMS displacement error <1.5 cm. A force pattern that started at the heel and finished at the forefoot was observed during walking using the system, which was similar to the pattern from overground walking.Conclusion: The robotic system produced walking-like kinematics in the 10 joints and in the foot trajectories. Integrated with the curved treadmill, the system also produced walking-like force patterns on the foot soles. The system is considered feasible as far as implementation and responsiveness are concerned. Future work will focus on improvement of the mechanical system for future clinical application.

Effects of repetitive intensive arm swing indirect gait training on vasti and hamstring muscle activity and gait performance in children with cerebral palsy

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yon Ju Sim ◽  
Dong Ryul Lee ◽  
Chung Hwi Yi ◽  
Heon Seock Cynn
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Palsy ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Gait Training ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Clinical Test ◽  
Arm Swing ◽  
Gait Parameters ◽  
Children With Cerebral Palsy ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Training Programmes

Background/aims Both upper and lower limbs interact through neural coupling. Such interconnection leads to rhythmic interlimb coordination, which affects the central pattern generator for the lower limbs. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of repetitive intensive arm swing indirect gait training on muscle activity and gait parameters in children with cerebral palsy. Methods A total of 9 children with cerebral palsy were recruited for 20 sessions of repetitive intensive arm swing indirect gait training. They were tested before and after completion of this training using surface electromyography, spatiotemporal gait parameters assessments and clinical tests. A paired t-test was used to investigate differences in participants' vasti and hamstring activity, spatiotemporal gait parameters, and clinical test results before and after the training. Results Participants' vasti muscle activity increased significantly after the repetitive intensive arm swing indirect gait training, but there was no significant change in their hamstring muscles. However, spatiotemporal gait parameters and clinical motor function improved significantly. Conclusions Repetitive intensive arm swing indirect gait training may be suitable as an effective exercise in gait training programmes for children with cerebral palsy.

Mechanical Design and Control of a 2 Degree of Freedom Robotic Hand Rehabilitation Device

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Murphy ◽  
Qing Chao Kong ◽  
Constantinos Mavroidis
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Impedance Control ◽  
Degree Of Freedom ◽  
Robotic Hand ◽  
Hand Rehabilitation ◽  
Automated Control ◽  
Home Setting ◽  
Robotic Therapy ◽  
Flexion And Extension

Robotic neurorehabilitation is a rapidly growing field in both research and industry. Robotics offer the ability to create less labor-intensive rehabilitation for therapists, while providing an interactive experience for patients. Furthermore, the ability to implement assistive robotic therapy in the home setting has the potential to increase the frequency of patient rehabilitation sessions while decreasing the overall cost of therapy. Therefore, the design, control, and initial testing of an actuated 2 degree of freedom hand rehabilitation device is presented. A 2 degree of freedom hand rehabilitation device, named the Navigator, is mechanically capable of assistive or resistive mode exercise for flexion and extension of the fingers, as well as pronation and supination of the wrist. A series elastic actuator incorporating a rack and pinion provides actuation to flexion and extension of the fingers. A belt drive is used to provide actuation to pronation and supination of the wrist. Position and load sensors are integrated into both actuators to provide feedback for the control system. The implementation of an impedance control system utilizing position, force, and torque feedback is also presented. Automated control results as well as preliminary pilot data of resistive mode exercises are presented. The impedance controller interacts with a virtual environment. Preliminary results of the controller confirm the efficacy of the device’s mechanical design.

Control System for Suppressing Tracking Error Offset and Multiharmonic Disturbance in High-Speed Optical Disk Systems

2012 ◽  
Vol 132 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuta Nabata ◽  
Tatsuya Nakazaki ◽  
Tokoku Ogata ◽  
Kiyoshi Ohishi ◽  
Toshimasa Miyazaki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Tracking Error ◽  
Optical Disk

Design of a Human Knee Reeducation Mechanism

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-53
Author(s):  
Allaoua Brahmia ◽  
Ridha Kelaiaia
Keyword(s):  
Lower Limb ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Kinematic Chain ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Kinematic Structure ◽  
Robotic Device ◽  
Human Knee ◽  
Kinematic Study ◽  
Rehabilitation Exercise ◽  
New Machine

Abstract To establish an exercise in open muscular chain rehabilitation (OMC), it is necessary to choose the type of kinematic chain of the mechanical / biomechanical system that constitutes the lower limbs in interaction with the robotic device. Indeed, it’s accepted in biomechanics that a rehabilitation exercise in OMC of the lower limb is performed with a fixed hip and a free foot. Based on these findings, a kinematic structure of a new machine, named Reeduc-Knee, is proposed, and a mechanical design is carried out. The contribution of this work is not limited to the mechanical design of the Reeduc-Knee system. Indeed, to define the minimum parameterizing defining the configuration of the device relative to an absolute reference, a geometric and kinematic study is presented.

Development of an autonomous robotic system for beard shaving assistance of disabled people based on an adaptive force tracking impedance control

2021 ◽  
pp. 095440622098482
Author(s):  
Oladayo S Ajani ◽  
Samy FM Assal
Keyword(s):  
Impedance Control ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Robotic System ◽  
Robotic Systems ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Robotic Assistance ◽  
Head Pose ◽  
Detection And Tracking ◽  
Control Scheme ◽  
Force Tracking

Recently, people with upper arm disabilities due to neurological disorders, stroke or old age are receiving robotic assistance to perform several activities such as shaving, eating, brushing and drinking. Although the full potential of robotic assistance lies in the use of fully autonomous robotic systems, these systems are limited in design due to the complexities and the associated risks. Hence, rather than the shared controlled or active robotic systems used for such tasks around the head, an adaptive compliance control scheme-based autonomous robotic system for beard shaving assistance is proposed. The system includes an autonomous online face detection and tracking as well as selected geometrical features-based beard region estimation using the Kinect RGB-D camera. Online trajectory planning for achieving the shaving task is enabled; with the capability of online re-planning trajectories in case of unintended head pose movement and occlusion. Based on the dynamics of the UR-10 6-DOF manipulator using ADAMS and MATLAB, an adaptive force tracking impedance controller whose parameters are tuned using Genetic Algorithm (GA) with force/torque constraints is developed. This controller can regulate the contact force under head pose changing and varying shaving region stiffness by adjusting the target stiffness of the controller. Simulation results demonstrate the system capability to achieve beard shaving autonomously with varying environmental parameters that can be extended for achieving other tasks around the head such as feeding, drinking and brushing.

scholarly journals An Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Control of Pneumatic Mechanical Ventilator

Actuators ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Jozef Živčák ◽  
Michal Kelemen ◽  
Ivan Virgala ◽  
Peter Marcinko ◽  
Peter Tuleja ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Control Algorithm ◽  
Fuzzy Inference ◽  
Fuzzy Controller ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Mechanical Ventilator ◽  
Mechanical Ventilators ◽  
Inference System ◽  
Control Approach ◽  
Neuro Fuzzy

COVID-19 was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. It mainly affects the respiratory system and can lead to the death of the patient. The motivation for this study was the current pandemic situation and general deficiency of emergency mechanical ventilators. The paper presents the development of a mechanical ventilator and its control algorithm. The main feature of the developed mechanical ventilator is AmbuBag compressed by a pneumatic actuator. The control algorithm is based on an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), which integrates both neural networks and fuzzy logic principles. Mechanical design and hardware design are presented in the paper. Subsequently, there is a description of the process of data collecting and training of the fuzzy controller. The paper also presents a simulation model for verification of the designed control approach. The experimental results provide the verification of the designed control system. The novelty of the paper is, on the one hand, an implementation of the ANFIS controller for AmbuBag pressure control, with a description of training process. On other hand, the paper presents a novel design of a mechanical ventilator, with a detailed description of the hardware and control system. The last contribution of the paper lies in the mathematical and experimental description of AmbuBag for ventilation purposes.

scholarly journals Robotic Technologies and Rehabilitation: New Tools for Stroke Patients’ Therapy

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrizia Poli ◽  
Giovanni Morone ◽  
Giulio Rosati ◽  
Stefano Masiero
Keyword(s):  
Gait Training ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Robotic Rehabilitation ◽  
Stroke Patients ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Comprehensive Search ◽  
Improve Muscle Strength ◽  
Training Protocol ◽  
Robotic Technologies

Introduction. The role of robotics in poststroke patients’ rehabilitation has been investigated intensively. This paper presents the state-of-the-art and the possible future role of robotics in poststroke rehabilitation, for both upper and lower limbs.Materials and Methods. We performed a comprehensive search of PubMed, Cochrane, and PeDRO databases using as keywords “robot AND stroke AND rehabilitation.”Results and Discussion. In upper limb robotic rehabilitation, training seems to improve arm function in activities of daily living. In addition, electromechanical gait training after stroke seems to be effective. It is still unclear whether robot-assisted arm training may improve muscle strength, and which electromechanical gait-training device may be the most effective for walking training implementation.Conclusions. In the field of robotic technologies for stroke patients’ rehabilitation we identified currently relevant growing points and areas timely for developing research. Among the growing points there is the development of new easily transportable, wearable devices that could improve rehabilitation also after discharge, in an outpatient or home-based setting. For developing research, efforts are being made to establish the ideal type of treatment, the length and amount of training protocol, and the patient’s characteristics to be successfully enrolled to this treatment.

scholarly journals A Human-Inspired Control Strategy for Improving Seamless Robot-To-Human Handovers

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 4437
Author(s):  
Paramin Neranon ◽  
Tanapong Sutiphotinun
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Control Strategy ◽  
Impedance Control ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Robotic Control ◽  
Natural Manner ◽  
Object Handover ◽  
Overall Performance ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Test Outcomes

One of the challenging aspects of robotics research is to successfully establish a human-like behavioural control strategy for human–robot handover, since a robotic controller is further complicated by the dynamic nature of the human response. This paper consequently highlights the development of an appropriate set of behaviour-based control for robot-to-human object handover by first understanding an equivalent human–human handover. The optimized hybrid position and impedance control was implemented to ensure good stability, adaptability and comfort of the robot in the object handover tasks. Moreover, a questionnaire technique was employed to gather information from the participants concerning their evaluations of the developed control system. The results demonstrate that the quantitative measurement of performance of the human-inspired control strategy can be considered acceptable for seamless human–robot handovers. This also provided significant satisfaction with the overall control performance in the robotic control system, in which the robot can dexterously pass the object to the receiver in a timely and natural manner without the risk of harm or injury by the robot. Furthermore, the survey responses were in agreement with the parallel test outcomes, demonstrating significant satisfaction with the overall performance of the robot–human interaction, as measured by an average rating of 4.20 on a five-point scale.

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