Design of integral backstepping controller - sliding mode along with admittance controller of knee joint robot in the presence of noise

Abstract

Robots are increasingly being used in rehabilitation to assist patients with physical disabilities, particularly the knee joint. Physiotherapists often practice the patient’s leg around the knee joint to strengthen the muscles. However, Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) devices face challenges such as lack of feedback and resistance. This thesis aims to address these issues by using admittance and impedance concepts to control the robot’s flexible behavior against individual foot forces. The research uses a combination of backstepping and admittance algorithms, Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC), Sliding-Backstepping and Admittance Control to create a soft interactive patient-robot interaction. The device is designed for both left and right legs.