Research and Development of an Intelligent Control System for an Ankle rehabilitation Robot

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This project will research control systems and their effectiveness in robots used for rehabilitation of joints, primarily focused on neurological injuries such as strokes, and sport-related injuries. The effectiveness of certain control systems used in these robots in industry will be compared and using this research a new intelligent control system will be proposed.The intelligent control system should be novel and include aspects of deep learning and AI.The proposed control system will be developed for an ankle rehabilitation robot using pneumatic muscles as actuators. Throughout the development the robot will be tested, and the effectiveness of the control system quantified against control values. Once the system is sufficiently developed, tests with human participants will be proposed to validate its effectiveness.The aim of the project is to research, develop and test an intelligent control system to be used in an ankle rehabilitation robot.The objectives of the project are:- Research current literature around rehabilitation robots and their control systems- Understand and use the ankle rehabilitation robot in the robotics lab in the university, including software- Develop a novel intelligent control system for the ankle robot- Test the intelligent system against control values gained from tests using more commonplace control systems- Test the intelligent control system alongside human participantsThe potential applications of this project include improving the effectiveness of robot-assisted ankle rehabilitation and potentially allow healthcare services like the NHS access to functional rehabilitation robots. This would assist therapists in caring for stroke victims and other patients with neurological diseases that impair joint movement, allowing for more effective treatment and easing the physical workload on the therapist.A more short-term benefit of the project is that current robots used for rehabilitation are not very user-friendly and cannot be easily adapted to a patient's particular needs. An intelligent control system would allow for a more intuitive interface, less need for physical interference from a therapist during the therapy process, and custom training values and exercises for a patient.The use of the ankle robot in this project is necessary for testing and training but the application of the control system extends to most rehabilitation robotics, given minor changes to the parameters, as the learning aspect should allow the control system to function for any actuator setup and range of motion required.