Development of a Control System and Functional Validation of a Parallel Robot for Lower Limb Rehabilitation
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- (a)
- Stationary systems are designed to perform rehabilitation training of the human ankle and knee without the patient walking; the patients are always positioned in the same location, and only the subject limb performs training actions. The Rutgers robotic system [24] is based on Stewart platform that provide 6 DOF at the patient’s foot accompanied by virtual reality exercises. Another example is the High Performance Ankle Rehabilitation Robot designed and developed by IIT (Instituto Italiano di Tecnologia). This device performs plantar dorsiflexion and inversion/eversion using a better parallel mechanism as it takes advantage of actuation redundancy to minimize singularity and substantially improve dexterity in the workspace.
- (b)
- Active foot orthoses are wearable exoskeletons that patients wear while walking outside or on a treadmill. In the market, one currently available active foot orthoses is Anklebot, commercialized by Interactive Motion Technologies [25] and developed by MIT. This is a rehabilitation system that provides 3 DOF of the foot with respect of the shank when the patient is walking on the floor or treadmill.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. RECOVER-Parallel Robot for Lower Limb Rehabilitation
2.1.1. Mechanical Design
- 2 active prismatic joints ( and );
- 5 passive revolute joints (, , , , and ).
- and are active prismatic joints;
- and are passive revolute joints;
- and are passive prismatic joints.
2.1.2. Robot Control System
- The number of steps (step) executed by the selected motor, if this parameter is chosen 0 then the motor will rotate until the control button (forward or backward) is active (pressed), or for a positive value it will execute the specified number of steps;
- Actuation speed given in (steps/sec), usually in the range 100–1200, the velocity sign in the expression determines the direction of rotation;
- Motor selection: 1 selecting , 2 selecting , 3 selecting both motors that will rotate in the same direction, and 4 when both motors rotate but in opposite directions.
- The ratio of driving speeds ranges from 1 to 7, with 1 indicating that the motor spins 3 times faster than , 2 indicating 2 times, 3 indicating 1.5 times (3/2), 4 indicating equal speeds, and 5, 6, and 7 indicating 2/3, 1/2, and 1/3 ratios, respectively.
2.2. Experimental Validation of the RECOVER Control System
- The subject must lay on the bed’s edge, with the pelvis located at the end of the bed, so that limb movement is possible beyond the upper side of the bed.
- Human hip rotational axes and robot hip joint rotational axes must be collinear.
- The length of the robot’s femoral link must be calibrated to correspond to the anthropometric length of the thigh, so that the rotational knee joint axes of the human lower limb and the axes of knee and robotic knee joint are collinear.
- The lower limb that will not be subjected to rehabilitation training will be held by a support installed in the bed’s expansion, ensuring that it remains completely horizontal.
- The lower limb undergoing medical recovery therapy will be put on thigh support, which will be tied on with braces, and the lower leg will be placed on lower leg support, which will also be tied on with straps.
- Once the thigh and lower leg are secured to their respective supports, the foot is positioned within the ankle module, which is secured to the lower limb support. The adjustment length of connection requires the sole to be secured to the sole support, and the foot is attached to the sole support with Velcro straps.
- The rehabilitation process is started based on the advice of the physiotherapist.
- The robot performs the rehabilitation motions with the patient attached.
- When the rehabilitation process is completed, the robot returns to the start position, the lower limb will be disconnected from the sole support, lower leg support and thigh straps and the subject may end the rehabilitation process.
- Hip flexion/extension.
- Knee flexion/extension.
- Ankle dorsiflexion/plantar flexion.
- Ankle inversion/eversion.
- Participant is laying down on the adjustable bed, the robotic system is placed on the right side of bed; thus, the subject of test will place his right leg on the robotic device (Figure 5).
- Each subject is asked to place themselves comfortably and in a correct position on the robotic device after sterilizing the robot elements that come into direct contact with the test participant’s body;
- The subject’s foot is placed on the ankle module support composed from a lower leg support, sole support, and heel support, once the foot is positioned in the ankle module, it is secured with Velcro straps;
- Ten repetitions are performed for each rehabilitation training motion;
- First rehabilitation motion tested is hip flexion/extension; the leg is raised in sagittal plane;
- Before executing the next motion, the robot is returned to its starting position;
- The second rehabilitation motion tested is knee flexion/extension executed also in sagittal plane;
- After knee flexion/extension exercises is performed, the robot is returned again in the starting position.
- The third motion performed is dorsiflexion/plantar flexion, this motion is also in sagittal plane.
- The last motion is ankle inversion/eversion performed in the frontal plane.
- For the hip joint, a dual axis goniometer (for the measurement of the hip motion amplitudes in two perpendicular planes), positioned laterally (SG150);
- For the knee joint, a similar goniometer was used even though the motion is performed in a single plane, thus only the signal from one axis will be interpreted (SG150);
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Subject No. | Gender | Age (Years) | Weight (kg) | Height (cm) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Female | 44 | 53 | 162 |
2 | Female | 36 | 55 | 172 |
3 | Female | 35 | 53 | 163 |
4 | Male | 30 | 68 | 173 |
5 | Male | 34 | 70 | 178 |
6 | Male | 40 | 76 | 175 |
7 | Male | 31 | 89 | 184 |
8 | Male | 42 | 80 | 184 |
Hip Motion | Knee Motion | Ankle Flex/Ext Motion | Ankle Inv/Ev. Motion |
---|---|---|---|
0.0539 ± 0.0296 | 0.0517 ± 0.0294 | 0.0494 ± 0.281 | 0.0481 ± 0.0297 |
Rehabilitation Motions | (°) |
---|---|
Hip flexion | 85° |
Hip extension | −25° |
Knee flexion | 118° |
Knee extension | 0° |
Ankle dorsiflexion | −25° |
Ankle plantar flexion | 41° |
Ankle inversion | −25° |
Ankle eversion | 25° |
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Pisla, D.; Nadas, I.; Tucan, P.; Albert, S.; Carbone, G.; Antal, T.; Banica, A.; Gherman, B. Development of a Control System and Functional Validation of a Parallel Robot for Lower Limb Rehabilitation. Actuators 2021, 10, 277. https://doi.org/10.3390/act10100277
Pisla D, Nadas I, Tucan P, Albert S, Carbone G, Antal T, Banica A, Gherman B. Development of a Control System and Functional Validation of a Parallel Robot for Lower Limb Rehabilitation. Actuators. 2021; 10(10):277. https://doi.org/10.3390/act10100277
Chicago/Turabian StylePisla, Doina, Iuliu Nadas, Paul Tucan, Stefan Albert, Giuseppe Carbone, Tiberiu Antal, Alexandru Banica, and Bogdan Gherman. 2021. "Development of a Control System and Functional Validation of a Parallel Robot for Lower Limb Rehabilitation" Actuators 10, no. 10: 277. https://doi.org/10.3390/act10100277