Abstract
Several rehabilitation robots for upper limbs have been proposed so far, and clinical effectiveness with such systems has been reported for the aged people or post-stroke patients. Almost all systems have utilized motor or other actuators. Actuator-based (active type) robots have great advantage for rehabilitative activities, for example assistive forces and so on, but on the view point of safety, we have a room to consider brake-based (passive type) rehabilitation systems. However, the effects and roles of active / passive force feedback for human senses, motions, rehabilitative effects and safety have not been clarified yet. In this study, we have developed an active / passive switchable rehabilitation system for upper limbs (Hybrid-PLEMO), and discussed its effect effectiveness. In this paper, we describe the specification of the Hybrid-PLEMO. Additionally, we discuss the effect of oscillatory stimulation with active / passive force feedback for facilitation techniques.
