Human upper limb and arm kinematics for robot based rehabilitation

This project is focusing on the development of robot-assisted stroke rehabilitation system of human upper limb and arm. Realizing the complexity of human upper limb, the study is limited to human arm, consisting of 3 glenohumeral joints (abduction-adduction, flexion-extension, and rotation) and elbow joint (flexion-extension). Rehabilitation robot is used to assist patient to move their hand to a desired position. A 7 degree of freedom (DoFs) kinematical model of human arm, and an 11 DoFs human hand kinematical model are presented in this paper. The model was defined based on the literature survey and assumptions are made to reduce the complexity. Denavit-Hartenberg method is used for the positional analysis to determine the end position in 3D space while the Lagrange-Euler method is used for the dynamic analysis. A PID computed torque controller was designed by utilizing the equation of motion. The purpose of the controller is to compensate the dynamical imperfection and the presence of disturbance. MATLAB and Simulink was used in developing the mathematical model while Anybody Modeling System was used for physical modeling and simulation.