Estimating arm motion and force using EMG signals: On the control of exoskeletons

There is a great effort during the last decades towards building robotic devices that are worn by humans. These devices, called exoskeletons, are used mainly for support and rehabilitation, as well as for augmentation of human capabilities. Providing a control interface for exoskeletons, that would guarantee comfort and safety, as well as efficiency and robustness, is still an issue. This paper presents a methodology for estimating human arm motion and force exerted, using electromyographic (EMG) signals from muscles of the upper limb. The proposed method is able to estimate motion of the human arm as well as force exerted from the upper limb to the environment, when the motion is constrained. Moreover, the method can distinguish the cases in which the motion is constrained or not (i.e. exertion of force versus free motion) which is of great importance for the control of exoskeletons. Furthermore, the method provides a continuous profile of estimated motion and force, in contrast to other methods used in the literature that can only detect initiation of movement or intention of force. The system is tested in an orthosis-like scenario, during planar movements, through various experiments. The experimental results prove the system efficiency, making the proposed methodology a strong candidate for an EMG-based control scheme applied in robotic exoskeletons.