3-D Rehabilitation Robot System for Upper Limbs and its Force Display Techniques

Movements of upper limbs are complicated, various and indispensable for daily activities. For patients with impairment of their upper limb, rehabilitation along with medical treatment is needed to recover function. For elderly as well, training is needed to keep their ADL or social activities. Application of robotics and virtual reality technology makes possible for new training methods and exercises and for quantitative evaluations to enhance the qualitative effect of training. However it is difficult for conventional robots to be commercialized for rehabilitation use because of safety insufficiency. The authors have involved in a project managed by NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization), “Rehabilitation System for the Upper Limbs and Lower Limbs,” and developed a 3-DOF exercise machine for upper limb (EMUL). In this paper, the authors report on EMUL which has been developed considering safety. They also mention some software with force display by EMUL, which can help doctors and therapists with their treatment.