A novel 5-DOF exoskeletal rehabilitation robot system for upper limbs

A novel 5-DOF exoskeletal rehabilitation robot for upper limbs of hemiplegic patients caused by stroke is proposed in this paper. Its hardware structure is introduced and the control methods are analyzed. To implement intelligent and interactive rehabilitation exercises, motion intention of patients' upper limb is introduced into control methods of rehabilitation exercises. In passive motions, according to the character of unilateral impaired, multi-channels surface electromyogram (sEMG) signals of patients' healthy arm muscles are acquired and analyzed to recognize the upper limb motions, then drive the robot and assist paralysis arm's rehabilitation exercises. In active-resistant motions, because patients are recovered with some muscle forces and active motion ability after a rehabilitation period, the terminal force loaded on the robot by an impaired arm are estimated with multi-channel joint torque sensors, according to which, the terminal velocity of the robot is controlled to drive the joint motions with a damp controller.