Reconfigurable ankle rehabilitation robot for various exercises

TLDR

The study introduces a reconfigurable ankle rehabilitation robot designed to support multiple exercise modes. The robot enables toe and heel raising, ankle rotations, and pitch/roll motions by generating relative rotation between fore and rear platforms, can be reconfigured from ROM/strengthening to balance/proprioception with an added plate, and employs unified position‑based impedance control for all exercise modes. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents a reconfigurable ankle rehabilitation robot to cover various rehabilitation exercise modes. The designed robot can allow desired ankle and foot motions, including toe and heel raising as well as traditional ankle rotations, since the mechanism can generate relative rotation between the fore and rear platforms as well as pitch and roll motions. In addition, the robotic device can be reconfigured from a range of motion (ROM)/strengthening exercise device to a balance/proprioception exercise device by simply incorporating an additional plate. Further, the action of the device is twofold in the sense that while a patient's foot is fastened firmly to the ROM/strengthening device for task specific training, that person can also stand on the balance/proproception device. To perform each mode of ROM, strengthening, and proproception exercises, a unified position‐based impedance control is systematically developed taking into account the desired position and velocity. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.