Robotic rehabilitation requires personalized, versatile, and efficient devices to accommodate the diverse needs of patients recovering from motor impairments. In this paper, we focus on hand rehabilitation and analyse a tendon-driven, modular, and adaptable robotic glove actuated by twisted string actuators (TSAs). The proposed solution exploits flexibility in design, allowing customization based on individual patient needs while ensuring effective assistance in hand movements.

Specifically, in this paper we investigate the kinematic relationships between tendon-driven actuators and hand motion. We provide a detailed implementation of multiple functional modules within the glove, designed to accommodate various rehabilitation exercises and adapt to different degrees of motor impairment. In addition, we present experimental tests involving a user to evaluate the system’s performance, usability, and effectiveness in facilitating hand movement. The results provide insights into the potential of TSA-driven robotic gloves for enhancing rehabilitation outcomes through a combination of precise actuation and adaptability to user’s needs.

In this paper, an online adaptive super twisting sliding mode controller is proposed for a non-linear system. The adaptive controller has been designed in order to deal with the unknown dynamic uncertainties and give the best trajectory tracking. The adaptation is based on an optimal Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm whose goal is online tuning the parameters through focusing on decreasing the objective function. The novelty of this study is online handling parameters setting in the conventional super twisting algorithm, bypass heavy offline calculation, and also avoid the instability and abrupt changing of the controller’s parameters for better actuators lifetime. This novel approach has been applied on an upper limb exoskeleton robot for arm rehabilitation. Despite the changes of the dynamic model of the system which defers from one patient to another due to the direct interactions between the wearer and the exoskeleton, this control technique preserves its robustness with respect to bounded external disturbances. The effectiveness of the proposed adaptive controller has been proved in simulation and then in real-time experiment with two human subjects. A comparison between the proposed approach and classic super twisting algorithm has been conducted. The obtained results show the performance and efficiency of the proposed controller.

The demand for rehabilitation services has increased in recent years due to population aging. Due to the limitations of therapist’s time and healthcare resources, robot-assisted rehabilitation is becoming an appealing, powerful, and economical solution. In this paper, we propose a solution that combines Learning from Demonstration (LfD) and robotic rehabilitation to save the therapist’s time and reduce the therapy costs when the therapy involves periodic or semi-periodic motions.We begin by modeling the therapist’s behavior (a periodic or semi-periodic motion) using a Fourier Series (FS). Later, when the therapist is no longer involved, the system reproduces the learned behavior modeled by the FS using a robot. A second goal is to combine the above with Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and Gaussian Mixture Regression (GMR) to obtain a more flexible and generalizable reproduction of the therapist’s behavior. This algorithm allows learning and imitating repetitive movement tasks. Our experimental results show the application of these algorithms to repetitive motion task.

Robotic devices are well-suited to provide high intensity upper limb therapy in order to induce plasticity and facilitate recovery from brain and spinal cord injury. In order to realise gains in functional independence, devices that target the distal joints of the arm are necessary. Further, the robotic device must exhibit key dynamic properties that enable both high dynamic transparency for assessment, and implementation of novel interaction control modes that significantly engage the participant. In this paper, we present the kinematic design, dynamical characterization, and clinical validation of the RiceWrist-S, a serial robotic mechanism that facilitates rehabilitation of the forearm in pronation-supination, and of the wrist in flexion-extension and radial-ulnar deviation. The RiceWrist-Grip, a grip force sensing handle, is shown to provide grip force measurements that correlate well with those acquired from a hand dynamometer. Clinical validation via a single case study of incomplete spinal cord injury rehabilitation for an individual with injury at the C3-5 level showed moderate gains in clinical outcome measures. Robotic measures of movement smoothness also captured gains, supporting our hypothesis that intensive upper limb rehabilitation with the RiceWrist-S would show beneficial outcomes.