A cascade fuzzy adaptive based interaction torque control of a pneumatically actuated forearm rehabilitation robot under disturbance effects

In this study, an intelligent adaptive interaction torque control for a pneumatically actuated forearm rehabilitation robot has been proposed. The main objective is to provide a haptic environment that ensures stable interaction torque fields at changing levels. To achieve this goal, a cascade fuzzy adaptive controller, that is specifically tailored to handle varying levels of interaction torque and ensure stability throughout the rehabilitation process, has been designed. To improve the efficiency of the controller, non-linear friction torque identification of the pneumatic actuator based on changing operating conditions has been conducted. Parallel to this, a user motion intention detection algorithm has been designed to provide compliant, safe and suitable human-robot interactions. The disturbance cases have been considered to make the system robust to unknown conditions. Stability analysis has been performed, specifically focusing on the boundary-input boundary-output (BIBO) stability conditions. In order to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed cascade fuzzy adaptive algorithm, a cascade PID algorithm has also been meticulously designed for comparison. Numerous experimental validation tests involving a healthy user were conducted in a Hardware-in-the-Loop environment, focusing on torque trajectory tracking performance. The proposed control technique exhibited improved convergence dynamics compared to the cascade PID algorithm, yielding mean absolute error levels of 0.0218 Nm and 0.099 Nm for target interaction torque under disturbance-free and disturbed conditions, respectively.