Title: Research Trends in Rehabilitation Robotics

Abstract: Rehabilitation robotics can be divided into two main areas, assistive robotics including personal care robots, and rehabilitation therapeutic systems. Trends show these areas of rehabilitation robots branching into several directions. In rehabilitation robots for therapy, new trends are seen in the provision of robots for stroke therapy that assist in training of the whole arm and hand in both reaching and grasping and the use of robot therapy systems that are coupled with methods for uncovering how motor learning is occurring and how cerebral plasticity such as fMRI. In contrast, there is the trend to provide novel systems for home rehabilitation and monitory that are low-cost and affordable. The use of wireless, wearable and portable technology to provide home monitoring and the use of low-cost gaming technology or VR systems to provide home therapy is frequently seen. In assistive and personal robotics for rehabilitation, we uncover to provide more home personal and service robots that can provide more natural assistance, i.e., functioning as personal rehabilitation robots that provide service, are socially interactive, and more anthropomorphic approaching humanoid. Another clear trend is the move to novel control interfaces such as brain computing interfaces for control of a wheel chair robots and new control interfaces for control of new prostheses. This lecture will focus on these trends and seek to uncover what they tell us about the future of the field.