Towards the development of a low-cost robotic arm with residual finger movement input

Robotics has been applied to the rehabilitation of patients suffering from upper limb-related diseases such as stroke, upper spinal cord injuries and neuromuscular diseases (e.g. muscular dystrophy) alone, or combined with appropriate orthotic devices. In all cases, expensive industrial manipulators, as much as relatively low-cost commercial systems with specific modifications have been used. However, no reference has been made in the literature on the technology of such devices. This article presents the development of a joystick-computer system for the control of a step motor. Further research can lead to the development of an extremely low-cost robotic arm which uses residual finger movement input and can be used by research centers with restricted funding. Reference is made to the technology on which the circuitry is based, as well as to the design concept of it.