Development and Validation of a Real-Time Haptic Feedback System for a Soft Elbow Exosuit in Rehabilitation Sviluppo e validazione di un sistema di feedback aptico real-time per soft exosuit di gomito in applicazioni riabilitative

Upper limb exoskeletal devices represent a promising approach for motor rehabilitation, providing mechanical support during recovery from neurological or musculoskeletal impairments. While rigid exoskeletons can guide movements through their mechanical structure, soft exosuits combine compliance and adaptability but lack inherent trajectory guidance, creating the need for alternative feedback modalities to ensure correct movement execution. Effective motor learning requires repeated practice of accurate movement patterns, making real-time feedback essential to prevent error reinforcement and support proper motor skill acquisition. This thesis investigates the integration of real-time haptic and visual feedback with adaptive mechanical assistance in a soft elbow exosuit. The haptic feedback system comprises eight vibrotactile motors positioned on the upper arm and forearm, providing directional cues when users deviate from reference trajectories. A two-phase experimental protocol was used to validate the system. The first phase aimed to characterize the system, allowing a better understanding of how the vibrotactile cues were perceived. The second phase evaluated the complete system during trajectory tracking tasks with healthy participants. Different experimental conditions varied in the presence of haptic feedback, visual feedback, and mechanical assistance to assess their individual and combined effects on motor performance. Multiple sensors captured kinematic data and muscle activity, while subjective evaluations quantified perceived workload and feedback utility. This work addresses the challenge of providing effective movement guidance in soft exosuits, which offer compliance and adaptability but lack the inherent trajectory direction of rigid systems. By integrating real-time haptic and visual feedback, the system combines the advantages of soft exosuits with directional cues for motor learning. This approach contributes to rehabilitation robotics by exploring how multimodal feedback could support motor skill reacquisition in compliant elbow exosuits.