A bio-mimetic rehabilitation aid for motor control training using time base generator

In this paper, a rehabilitation aid for reaching movements is proposed with an impedance controlled robot using a time base generator (TBG). The TBG generates a target spatio-temporal trajectory for the robot, which has the same features as a healthy person has. In the proposed training, a trainee is instructed to move a handle attached on the robot to a target point based on biofeedback information, and the robot assists him or her according to trainee's motor control ability. To show effectiveness of the proposed training system, training experiments are carried out with healthy persons whose joints of the upper limb are partly restricted by bandages.