IoT Architecture for Smart Control of an Exoskeleton Robot in Rehabilitation by Using a Natural User Interface Based on Gestures

J Med Syst. 2020 Jul 23;44(9):144. doi: 10.1007/s10916-020-01602-w.

Abstract

This paper describes a system for allowing a therapist to record specific motions, as a part of a rehabilitation program, mainly aimed at the elderly people, by using a Natural User Interface based on gestures. Motions are sent to an exoskeleton robot which reproduces them in the patient's lower limbs. The proposed system is an early prototype implemented as a set of interconnected components, which run independently and remotely, under a distributed software architecture. Such prototype has been properly validated through different tests in a controlled environment. The obtained results and a discussion about benefits and drawbacks are also presented, together with preliminary ideas about future research for overcoming such drawbacks and transforming the prototype into a functional system to be tested in a real scenario with real patients.

Keywords: Exoskeleton; Intelligent robots; IoT; ROS; Rehabilitation.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Exoskeleton Device*
  • Gestures
  • Humans
  • Lower Extremity
  • Robotics*
  • Software