Motion identification based on sEMG for flexible pneumatic hand rehabilitator
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to avoid the precise modeling and controlling problems of rigid structures of hand recovery device, by proposing a hand rehabilitator based on flexible pneumatic actuator with its safety and adaptability.
Design/methodology/approach
The hand rehabilitator is designed based on a flexible pneumatic bending joint. The recovery training program for an injured finger is developed via forearm sEMG (surface electromyogram) sampling, analysis, classification and motion consciousness identification. Four typical movement models of the index finger and middle finger were defined and the corresponding sEMG signals were sampled. After simulation and comparative analysis, autoregressive (AR) model back propagation (BP) network was selected for sEMG analysis and hand recovery planning because of its best recognition performance. A verification test was designed and the results showed that the soft hand rehabilitator and recovery conception are feasible.
Findings
AR model BP network can identify the index finger and middle finger movement intention via an sEMG analysis. The developed flexible pneumatic hand rehabilitator is safe and suitable for finger recovering therapy.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the limitation of experimental samples, the prototype rehabilitator of this work may lack generalizability for other situations. Therefore, for further study and application, systematic structure revising, experiments, data and training are necessary to improve the performance.
Practical implications
The paper includes implications for the development and application of a new style, safe and dexterous hand rehabilitator.
Originality/value
The paper tries a new approach to design a safe, flexible and easily controlled hand rehabilitator.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 51405441) and Natural Science Foundation of Ningbo China (grant no. 2013A610154).
Citation
Bao, G., Li, K., Xu, S., Huang, P., Wu, L. and Yang, Q. (2015), "Motion identification based on sEMG for flexible pneumatic hand rehabilitator", Industrial Robot, Vol. 42 No. 1, pp. 25-35. https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-08-2014-0376
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited