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Robotic mirror therapy system for lower limb rehabilitation

Gaoxin Cheng (Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China; University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China and Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China)
Linsen Xu (Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China)
Jiajun Xu (University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China)
Jinfu Liu (University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China)
Jia Shi (University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China)
Shouqi Chen (University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China)
Lei Liu (University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China)
Xingcan Liang (University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China)
Yang Liu (Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China)

Industrial Robot

ISSN: 0143-991x

Article publication date: 30 October 2020

Issue publication date: 5 July 2021

227

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a robotic mirror therapy system for lower limb rehabilitation, which is applicable for different patients with individual movement disability levels.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper puts forward a novel system that includes a four-degree-of-freedom sitting/lying lower limb rehabilitation robot and a wireless motion data acquisition system based on mirror therapy principle. The magnetorheological (MR) actuators are designed and manufactured, whose characteristics are detected theoretically and experimentally. The passive training control strategy is proposed, and the trajectory tracking experiments verify its feasibility. Also, the active training controller that is adapt to the human motor ability is designed and evaluated by the comparison experiments.

Findings

The MR actuators produce continuously variable and compliant torque for robotic joints by adjusting excitation current. The reference limb joint position data collected by the wireless motion data acquisition system can be used as the motion trajectory of the robot to drive the affected limb. The passive training strategy based on proportional-integral control proves to have great trajectory tracking performance through experiments. In the active training mode, by comparing the real-time parameters adjustment in two phases, it is certified that the proposed fuzzy-based regulated impedance controller can adjust assistance torque according to the motor ability of the affected limb.

Originality/value

The system developed in this paper fulfills the needs of robot-assisted mirror therapy for hemiplegic patients.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan under Grant 2017YFB1303200.

Conflict of interest: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Citation

Cheng, G., Xu, L., Xu, J., Liu, J., Shi, J., Chen, S., Liu, L., Liang, X. and Liu, Y. (2021), "Robotic mirror therapy system for lower limb rehabilitation", Industrial Robot, Vol. 48 No. 2, pp. 221-232. https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-06-2020-0112

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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