A bio-mimetic rehabilitation aid for motor control training using time base generator

In this paper, a rehabilitation aid for reaching movements is proposed with an impedance controlled robot using a time base generator (TBG). The TBG generates a target spatio-temporal trajectory for the robot, which has the same features as a healthy person has. In the proposed training, a trainee is instructed to move a handle attached on the robot to a target point based on biofeedback information, and the robot assists him or her according to trainee´s motor control ability. To show effectiveness of the proposed training system, training experiments are carried out with healthy persons whose joints of the upper limb are partly restricted by bandages