Description, Characterization and Assessment of a BioInspired Shoulder Joint-First Link Robot for NeuroRobotic Applications

The development of innovative exoskeletons for the upper limb requires a strong collaboration between robotics and neuroscience. The robotic system will be deeply coupled to the human user and the exoskeleton design should be based on the human model in terms of biomechanics, and control and learning strategies. This paper presents the preliminary results of the design process of the Neurobotics exoskeleton (NEUROexos). A bioinspired three joints-three links robotic arm is under development for implementing bioinspired control strategies and for obtaining a human-like robotic arm to be used for assessing active exoskeletons in fully safe conditions. In particular, this paper presents the shoulder joint-first link prototype, the selected actuation system, the actuator modelling and identification, and the experimental evaluation of the prototype capability to replicate the human shoulder kinematics during the execution of a catching task