Compliant mechanism for ankle rehabilitation device; Part I: Modelling and design

Abstract

Robotic rehabilitation devices are able to meet certain requirements for long time rehabilitation, such as compact design, repeatability and storage patients' evolution. As ankle injuries have a high incidence among the population, regardless of their age or activity, the need for an easy to manufacture rehabilitation device emerges. The proposed design offers two degrees of freedom, required for a full recovery of the ankle joint and programmable exercises. Although a safety button can be included in the electronic system that can be operated by the patient, extra safety measures are required in order not to damage furthermore the rehabilitated limb. A compliant mechanism that can bear the extra load from the motors' crank, in case of overloading of the joint, is required. In this paper some design requirements and systematic synthesis methods for a compliant mechanism are presented.