Design of a novel 1 DOF hand rehabilitation robot for Activities of Daily Living (ADL) training of stroke patients

Abstract

In this paper, a novel 1 DOF hand rehabilitation robot is proposed in consideration of ADL training for stroke patients. Toperform several ADL trainings, the proposed robot can move the thumb part and the part of 4 fingers simultaneously and realize thefull ROM (Range of Motion) in grasp. Based on these characteristics, the proposed robot realizes several types of grasp such ascylindrical grasp, lateral grasp, and pinch grasp by using a passive revolute joint that can change the thumb movement direction. Themovement of the thumb is driven by a cable mechanism and the part of 4 fingers is moved by a four-bar linkage mechanism. © ICROS 2010.