Microcontroller-based control of a planar haptic device for rehabilitation of the human arm

Abstract

Stroke patient specific robotic rehabilitation platform is currently one of the research and development areas with the objective to assist the conventional motor therapy. The existing solutions, whose diffusion is limited, are either sophisticated or costly. This work is related to a project that is underway: H-Man, a novel, portable and cost-effective device for arm rehabilitation, developed by Nanyang Technological University. With the execution of this work one seeks to obtain a device capable of generating PWM wave, measuring motor current, acquiring encoder data and rendering haptics aiming to take place of the current expensive controller in the H-Man system. The device is based on a micro-controller from Microchip as real-time control platform. The PWM module in the device is configured to generate the PWM wave. Besides, it offers the current monitor circuits. The QEI module is programmed to acquire the encoders' data in the H-Man. The micro-controller is connected through RS-232 to a personal computer, which works as the front end for the system. In corporation with the mechanical unit and workstation (PC) unit, the micro-controller is able to control the behavior of H-Man in real time and render haptics.