Markerless Video Motion Analysis of A Modified McKibben Muscle Soft Pneumatic Actuator

Abstract

Physiotherapy is now considered an obligatory activity for patients with temporary disability or paralysis caused by muscle or brain injury. This is due to the nature of physiotherapy which can trigger neuroplasticity in patients with impaired motor function. Neuro-plasticity in physiotherapy is achieved by making the body or muscle undergo a repetitive specific physical task. There are many methods in physiotherapy; one of the newest approach in physical therapy is mirror therapy. Soft-pneumatic robotics researches for assisting the therapy is considered beneficial due to their high compliance and low inherent stiffness. They are highly customizable and are able to achieve multiple DOFs just by controlling the air pressure. In this work, the prototype of a soft pneumatic actuator (SPA) based on modified McKibben Muscle system is proposed. The SPA was built by using latex rubber tube and braided sleeve. The deformation of the SPA’s body is then analyzed and evaluated by comparing its movement pattern to the simulation that was acquired by using Finite Element Method (FEM). The variables that was used as the parameter for this test is the elongation ratio for one-way movement and Range of Motion (RoM) for 2D movement of the SPA. A markerless video motion analysis method was used to evaluate the movement and deformation of the SPA.