Compliant actuation of rehabilitation robots

• Published in: IEEE robotics & automation magazine Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 60 - 69
• Main Authors: Vallery, H., Veneman, J., van Asseldonk, E., Ekkelenkamp, R., Buss, M., van Der Kooij, H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.09.2008; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Actuation; Actuators; Bandwidth; compliance; Couplings; Exoskeletons; Gait; gait training; Haptic interfaces; Humans; passivity-based control; Patients; Rehabilitation robotics; Rehabilitation robots; Robot control; Robots; Safety; series elastic actuators; Springs; Stability analysis; Stiffness; stroke; Studies

This article discusses the pros and cons of compliant actuation for rehabilitation robots on the example of LOPES, focusing on the cons. After illustrating the bandwidth limitations, a new result has been derived: if stability in terms of passivity of the haptic device is desired, the renderable sti...