Design and Construction of a Planar Robotic Exoskeleton for Assessment of Upper Limb Movements

Abstract

Robotic assessment devices aimed at patients with motor disorders offer a comprehensive insight into motor coordination. In this paper, we designed and constructed a novel upper-limb exoskeleton robot that can be helpful in proprioception assessments and rehabilitation of impairments after stroke. The Exoskeleton consists of two 2-DOF arms which are fully adjustable to accommodate users of different sizes. The robot has hinge joints aligned with the user's shoulder and elbow, operates in a horizontal plane, and provide independent assessment of elbow and shoulder joints. By recruiting a virtual reality environment along with the exoskeleton, we have provided a platform that conveniently enables assessments of upper extremity, without the encumbrances of existing methods. As a preliminary step of validation, the reaching experiments were run as a qualitative test to find out user's perception of the device. Results underline the ability of the user to perform a variety of motor tasks under this protocol.