Design, Development, and Control of a Tendon-actuated Exoskeleton for Wrist Rehabilitation and Training

Robot rehabilitation is an emerging and promising topic that incorporates robotics with neuroscience and rehabilitation to define new methods for supporting patients with neurological diseases. As a consequence, the rehabilitation process could increase the efficacy exploiting the potentialities of robot-mediated therapies. Nevertheless, nowadays clinical effectiveness is not enough to widely introduce robotic technologies in such social contexts. In this paper we propose a step further, presenting an innovative exoskeleton for wrist flexion/extension and adduction/abduction motion training. It is designed to be wearable and easy to control and manage. It can be used by the patient in collaboration with the therapist or autonomously. The paper introduces the main steps of device design and development and presents some tests conducted with an user with limited wrist mobility.