Mechatronics Design, Modeling and Preliminary Control of a 5 DOF Upper Limb Active Exoskeleton

In this paper, we present the mechatronics design, modeling and preliminary control of a new 5 degrees of freedom (DoF) exoskeleton, dedicated for the upper limb rehabilitation. The designed exoskeleton allows the shoulder rotations as well as the elbow movements. It combines the advantages of both parallel and serial mechanisms. It has been designed by considering the main factors in designing a general use robotic force-feedback device and the human upper limb specications. This active device, as a kind of haptic device, provides two ways communication in both position and force, and allows patients to interact with the virtual reality system and practice activities of daily living (ADL) assistance. The kinematic model of the exoskeleton is presented. In order to evaluate the performance of the exoskeleton, a preliminary position and torque controllers have been implemented.