Design and Implementation of a Two-DOF Robotic System with an Adjustable Force Limiting Mechanism for Ankle Rehabilitation

Abstract

This paper presents a novel light-weight back-drivable inherently-safe robotic mechanism for delivering ankle rehabilitation therapies. The robot is designed to be used as the ankle module of a multi-purpose lower-limb rehabilitation robot. A novel friction-based safety feature has been introduced that enables mechanical adjustment of the maximum amount of allowable transfer forces and torques to the patient's limb. The design procedure, mathematical modeling and experimental validations are provided to demonstrate the performance of the proposed system.