Development of a rehabilitation robot

• Main Author: Tan, Kai Yen.
• Other Authors: Cheah Chien Chern
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Control and instrumentation::Robotics
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/49455
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

As the society is approaching the aging population era, there is an increasing risk of people suffering from diseases such as stroke. A stroke is a condition where a blood clot interrupts blood flow to an area of the brain. This may cause permanent damage to the nervous system and even death. Most stroke patients experienced weakness on one side of the body and may even lose their ability to move freely. Stroke patients will undergo a treatment called rehabilitation to enable them to regain their muscle control. This project aims to develop a robotic system for rehabilitation of upper limb (arm) after stroke. In the rehabilitation system, considering that the stroke patients have weak muscles and could not support their own arm, an arm structure will be required to aid the patients for better support their arm. The project is started off by brainstorming on arm structure designs. Theses designs will need to satisfy some requirements such as the flexibility to move freely with the human arm, its compatibility and rigidness and the necessary safety measures. The finalized design will be developed and tested on a robot manipulator, SONY SCARA Robot.