Design of a planar robotic machine for neuro-rehabilitation

This paper presents the design criteria of a robot manipulator for the rehabilitation of the upper limb. The machine is conceived to optimize the dynamic behavior in the interaction with the patient, basically in terms of low impedance when back-driven and low and isotropic inertial properties. Robot kinematics and dynamics are mathematically modeled and its dynamic properties are measured in the workspace in terms of inertia and acceleration capabilities. A method is used that is borrowed from the literature and is based on inertia and acceleration graphical representation through ellipsoids.