Mechanism Design and Performance Analysis of a Sitting/Lying Lower Limb Rehabilitation Robot

Abstract

To meet the various need of stroke patients’ rehabilitation training and carry out complex task training in real scenes, the structure of a lower limb rehabilitation robot with movements in the sagittal plane and coronal plane is usually complicated. A new sitting/lying lower limb rehabilitation robot (LOBO) with a simple mechanism form is proposed, which is designed based on a 2-PRR parallel mechanism. First, the kinematics, singularity, and condition number of the 2-PRR parallel mechanism are analyzed, which provides the basis for mechanism parameter design. Then, through the proportional–derivative control principle, real-time tracking of LOBO’s designed trajectory is realized. Finally, the length parameters of volunteers’ lower limbs are collected, and experimental verification is conducted in LOBO’s passive training mode. The experimental results show the feasibility of LOBO’s movement in the human sagittal and coronal planes. LOBO will help human lower limbs realize the synchronous continuous rehabilitation training of hip, knee, and ankle joints spatially, which could drive the rehabilitation movement of patients’ lower limbs in the sagittal plane and coronal plane in future clinical research. LOBO can also be applied to muscle strength training for the elderly to combat the effects of aging.