A refinement of mechanical design in H-man

Abstract

Robotic rehabilitation may have greater potential to meet up the rising demand as noted by the results of recent research studies. H-man is one of its kind, a planar robot mainly used for enhancing accessibility and affordability of therapy for the upper limb rehabilitation. The feasibility of H-man in clinical settings is proved via a 12-patient pilot study successful completion. H-man is currently in the phase of development and refinement of design. This project involves understanding the new software system architecture which is under development and its electrical connection, which constrains the hardware requirement for the new control station for H-man. Based upon two different software system architecture, the two different assemblies of hardware have been designed and subsequently, the casing has been designed. Both the casings differ mainly on the fabrication process and assembly of hardware, hence they can be interchangeable. The design includes a selection of a proper cooling system for effecting the functioning of the electrical components in the control station. In casing design and fabrication two different manufacturing method namely 30 printing (Fused deposition modeling) and laser cutting and assembly of acrylic sheets are used to fabricate the casing. After fabrication of the casing the individual components are assembled and disassembled to check the possible constraints. The assembly procedure, cost, weight, and space occupancy are studied and presented in detail along with comparison on the models manufactured by both the methods.