Virtual Reality-Based Framework to Simulate Control Algorithms for Robotic Assistance and Rehabilitation Tasks through a Standing Wheelchair

The implementation of control algorithms oriented to robotic assistance and rehabilitation tasks for people with motor disabilities has been of increasing interest in recent years. However, practical implementation cannot be carried out unless one has the real robotic system availability. To overcome this drawback, this article presents the development of an interactive virtual reality (VR)-based framework that allows one to simulate the execution of rehabilitation tasks and robotic assistance through a robotic standing wheelchair. The virtual environment developed considers the kinematic and dynamic model of the standing human–wheelchair system with a displaced center of mass, since it can be displaced for different reasons, e.g.,: bad posture, limb amputations, obesity, etc. The standing wheelchair autonomous control scheme has been implemented through the Full Simulation (FS) and Hardware in the Loop (HIL) techniques. Finally, the performance of the virtual control schemes has been shown by means of several experiments based on robotic assistance and rehabilitation for people with motor disabilities.