The development of new robotic devices for rehabilitation can lead to new and more efficient therapeutic procedures. Moreover, the use of VR-based scenarios in which patients perform rehabilitation exercises dramatically increases the patients¿ motivation and thus the final therapy outcome. In this paper preliminary results of a pilot study carried out with an exoskeleton for the robotic assisted rehabilitation of the upper limb are presented. The paper briefly describes the main kinematic and mechanical features of the exoskeleton system, showing its peculiar characteristics which make it useful for rehabilitation purposes. The implementation of three different robotic schemes of therapy in virtual reality with this exoskeleton, based on an impedance control architecture, are presented and discussed in detail. Finally, qualitative and quantitative results obtained in a 6 week pilot study with three chronic stroke patients are reported.

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We have been developing a 4DOF exoskeleton robot system in order to assist shoulder vertical motion, shoulder horizontal motion, elbow motion, and forearm motion of physically weak persons such as elderly, injured, or disabled persons. The robot is directly attached to a user’s body and activated based on EMG (electromyogram) signals of the user’s muscles, since the EMG signals directly reflect the user’s motion intention. A neuro-fuzzy controller has been applied to control the exoskeleton robot system. In this paper, controller adaptation method to user’s EMG signals is proposed. A motion indicator is introduced to indicate the motion intention of the user for the controller adaptation. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

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A new robotic exoskeleton for the upper-limb has been designed and constructed. Its primary purpose is to act as a proof-of-concept prototype for a more sophisticated rehabilitation and assessment device that is currently in development. Simultaneously, it is intended to extend the capabilities of an existing planar exoskeleton device. The robot operates in the horizontal plane and provides independent control of a user’s shoulder, elbow and wrist joints using a cable-driven actuation system. The novel component of the design is a curved track and carriage which allows the mechanism that drives the shoulder joint to be located away from the user, underneath their arm. This paper describes the design of the robot, and provides an initial indication of its performance.

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