Development of a Novel Parallel Structure for Gait Rehabilitation

摘要

This chapter deals with the development of a new active body weight support, based on a parallel robotic structure with 5 degrees of freedom. Initially, a revision of the main structures applied in body weight support for gait rehabilitation is presented, along with a conceptual model of the proposed structure. Therefore, the inverse kinematics and singularity analysis are performed. A dynamic model is then built based on the obtained kinematics, and all parts of the structure are optimized using an evolutional algorithm. Finally, a CAD model of the structure is built based on the optimized dimensions and the model is applied to computational simulations of the gait rehabilitation, being thus ready for prototype construction.