Lab courses D-MAVT

Haptic Control of an Arm Exoskeleton

Robotic support has become more and more interesting in rehabilitation of human motor function, e.g., after stroke. First types of rehabilitation robots were intended to replace repetitive movements of a physiotherapist and therefore guide the patient along a physiological reference trajectory. The robot brings the advantages of having accurate and repetitive movements while being resistant to any type of fatigue. New understanding about motor learning shows that patient's active participation builds an essential element for rehabilitation success. A rehabilitation robot should therefore be as cooperative as a physiotherapist and enhance the patient's activity, e.g., by only supporting the patient as needed. This requires the robots to be equipped with a "haptic interface", which enables the control of the interaction forces with the user. in this lab course you will look into admittance control for an arm exoskeleton based on EMG and Force Sensor data.