Control of the E2REBOT Platform for Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Patients with Neuromotor Impairment

In this paper, the most significant aspects of the new robotic platform E2REBOT, for active assistance in rehabilitation work of the upper limbs for people with neuromotor impairment, are presented. Special emphasis is made on the characteristics of their control architecture, designed based on a three level model, one of which implements a haptic impedance controller, developed according to the “assist as needed” paradigm, looking to dynamically adjust the level of assistance to the current situation of the patient, in order to improve the results of the therapy. The two modes of therapy that supports the platform are described, highlighting the behavior of the control system in each case and describing the criteria used to adapt the behavior of the robot. Finally, we describe the ability of the system for the automatic recording of kinematic and dynamic parameters during the execution of therapies, and the availability of a management environment for exploiting these data, as a tool for supporting the rehabilitation tasks.