Hardware Platform Design of a Pneumatic Soft Hand Rehabilitation Robot

This paper presents a hardware platform for controlling a bidirectional pneumatic soft robotic hand rehabilitation system. The platform consists of two parts: the pneumatic circuit and the electrical circuit. Using components such as air pumps and switches, we designed a connection between the pneumatic and electrical circuits to enable the soft rehabilitation glove to assist in finger extension and flexion. The Arduino main control board controls the on-off operation of electrical components such as relays and solenoid valves, along with the motor driving module, to control the corresponding pneumatic pathways, allowing for the simultaneous control of multiple fingers for flexion and extension movements. The experimental results indicate that the platform can effectively achieve motion control of one or more soft rehabilitation fingers, and can guide the soft robotic hand to assist the human hand in performing various rehabilitation gestures. This platform design aims to better assist patients with hand impairments in their rehabilitation training.