A Force/Position Hybrid Controller for Rehabilitation Robot

Abstract

The growing ageing population in China poses a huge demand for rehabilitation care, which can be satisfied by the latest robot technology. Focusing on the motion system of a six degrees-of-freedom (DOF) robot, this paper explores the relationship between the force, torque, velocity and the postures of the end effector and joint. Drawing on robot control theories, the existing manipulator force/position hybrid controllers were reviewed, and a force/position hybrid controller was designed for path planning of rehabilitation robot. Then, the robot was modelled on the Robot Operating System (ROS), using the Unified Robot Description Format (URDF) file and the MoveIt! Setup Assistant. Finally, our controller was tested in the ROS virtual simulation environment. The results show that our controller can facilitate and optimize the design of the path of rehabilitation robot.