Desenvolvimento de uma Nova Estrutura Robótica para Reabilitação Bimanual Acoplada a Jogos Sérios

Abstract

Upper-limb functional impairments caused by stroke, neurological disorders, and other motor dysfunctions significantly affect patients' independence, making rehabilitation an essential process for functional recovery. In this context, robotic rehabilitation has emerged as an effective alternative for providing repetitive, controlled, and safe therapeutic exercises while enabling continuous monitoring of patient progress. This dissertation presents the development of a novel robotic structure for upper-limb bimanual rehabilitation, consisting of a planar five-bar mechanism coupled with a third degree of freedom responsible for the movement of the contralateral limb. Initially, the robot workspace was designed based on anthropometric data, followed by the development of direct and inverse kinematic models implemented computationally to control the end-effector position. Subsequently, the mechanism dimensions were optimized to reduce the bar lengths while preserving the required workspace. Based on the optimized geometry, a static analysis using the Jacobian matrix was performed to determine the actuator torques throughout representative configurations of the workspace, providing support for motor selection. The mechanical structure was designed using CAD software and validated through computational analyses, resulting in the construction of a functional prototype integrated with an Arduino-based control system and a Unity application. The developed interface enables real-time robot monitoring and the execution of four serious games designed to promote motor training and increase user engagement during rehabilitation exercises. The results obtained demonstrated the mechanical and computational feasibility of the proposed robotic structure, as well as the effectiveness of integrating the kinematic models, embedded control system, and graphical interface. Therefore, the proposed system represents a low-cost platform for assisted upper-limb rehabilitation and provides a solid foundation for future studies involving advanced control strategies, patient adaptation, and clinical validation.