Design and Development of a Wrist-Hand Integrated Rehabilitation Robot with Human-Machine Interaction System

In recent years, the number of stroke cases has been rising, and the rate of disability due to stroke is also increasing, particularly with more patients experiencing upper limb impairments. However, there is a significant shortage of rehabilitation therapists to assist patients with rehabilitation training. To address this shortage, the use of upper limb rehabilitation robots for training has emerged. However, existing upper limb rehabilitation robots often face challenges such as bulky structures, low degrees of freedom, and monotonous training processes. In response to these issues, this paper presents the design of a wrist-hand integrated rehabilitation robot with a human-machine interaction system. The wrist-hand integrated rehabilitation robot features 22 degrees of freedom and enables coordinated training of the wrist and hand. Its structure is relatively lightweight and closely matches the human hand's natural movements. Furthermore, to enhance patient engagement, a human-machine interaction system is designed to combine an upper-level interface with the robot, increasing patient interest during use and boosting training enthusiasm. Simulation validation revealed that the motion space of the wrist-hand integrated rehabilitation robot can achieve 82.69% of the hand's movement space, demonstrating that the robot aligns well with the human hand. Therefore, this device is beneficial for cognitive and rehabilitation training.