Abstract
The purpose of this work is to design and fabricate a balanced passive robotic arm with the capability of applying variable mass to the end-effector in order to upper limb rehabilitation. To achieve this purpose, the first step is associated with establishing a robot structural design in the CAD environment. The next step is focused on developing the kinematic model based on the degrees of freedom and joint range of motion of the lower legs. Thereafter, the potential energy functions are determined for the springs and weight of components applied in the mechanism. The genetic algorithm is employed as a proper optimization program to extract the system design parameters, including the spring stiffness coefficients and their placement positions within the system. A prototype is fabricated for a balanced robot, and the end-effector mass variations are utilized to develop an adjustable balance capability. To create balance in the system, several items are designed, consisting of a control panel, two electric motors, and an electronic processor. This situation provides an equivalent force equal to the weight of selected mass from the end-effector to the user’s hand. (It is done by a reverse process.) The actual mass required for robot balance is compared to the mass defined in the simulation environment. The evaluation results indicate that it is possible to create an optimized balance by using the simulation outputs.
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Abbreviations
- \(a_{1}\) :
-
The first joint distance from spring junction
- \(a_{2}\) :
-
The second joint distance from spring junction
- \(b_{1}\) :
-
The distance of mass center of the first arm from its joint
- \(b_{2}\) :
-
The distance of mass center of the second arms from its joint
- C 1 :
-
The mass center of the first link
- C 2 :
-
The mass center of the second link
- d 1 :
-
The adjustment parameter of the first spring
- d 2 :
-
The adjustment parameter of the second spring
- e :
-
The error function of control
- \(g\) :
-
The gravity acceleration
- k 1 :
-
The first spring stiffness coefficient
- k 2 :
-
The second spring stiffness coefficient
- \(l_{1}'\) :
-
The first arm length
- \(l_{2}'\) :
-
The second arm length
- \(m_{1}\) :
-
The mass of the first arm
- \(m_{2}\) :
-
The mass of the second arm
- \(m_{e}\) :
-
The mass of end-effector
- \(s_{1}\) :
-
The first joint distance from spring junction
- \(s_{2}\) :
-
The second joint distance from spring junction
- \({\uptheta }_{1}\) :
-
The rotation angle of the first arm in the vertical plane
- \({\uptheta }_{2}\) :
-
The rotation angle of the second arm in the vertical plane
- \(\delta_{1}\) :
-
The length variation of the first spring
- \(\delta_{2}\) :
-
The length variation of the second spring
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to appreciate the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences that greatly assisted us in implementing this research.
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Eslami, M., Mokhtarian, A., Pirmoradian, M. et al. Design and fabrication of a passive upper limb rehabilitation robot with adjustable automatic balance based on variable mass of end-effector. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 42, 629 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-020-02707-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-020-02707-6