Application of rubber artificial muscle manipulator as a rehabilitation robot

The application of a robot to rehabilitation has become a matter of great concern. This paper deals with functional recovery therapy, one important aspect of physical rehabilitation. Single-joint therapy machines have already been achieved. However, for more efficient therapy, multjoint robots are necessary to achieve more realistic motion patterns. This kind of robot must have a high level of safety for humans. A pneumatic actuator may be available for such a robot, because of the compliance of compressed air. A pneumatic rubber artificial muscle manipulator has been applied to construct a therapy robot with two degrees of freedom (DOF). Also, an impedance control strategy is employed to realize various motion modes for the physical therapy modes. Further, for efficient rehabilitation, it is desirable to comprehend the physical condition of the patient. Thus, the mechanical impedance of the human arm is used as an objective evaluation of recovery, and an estimation method is proposed. Experiments show the suitability of the proposed rehabilitation robot system.