ADDITIONAL DESIGN FEATURES OF A MASTER–SLAVE CONTROL SYSTEM WITH FORCE SENSING AND ENERGY RECYCLING FOR UPPER LIMB REHABILITATION ROBOTS

摘要

Traditional upper-limb rehabilitation robots usually realize force feedback with force sensors or impedance controllers. Otherwise, assistant or resistant force required in different training modes is given by the robot, which does not motivate the initiative of patients sufficiently. This article introduces a self-controlled upper-limb rehabilitation robot to implement force sensing without a force sensor or an impedance controller. The system supports bimanual exercises in different training modes with one limb providing a proper force for the contralateral limb. The above characteristics and the capability of master–slave motion tracking with a kind of energy recycling were verified with preliminary experiments.