Wheelchair-mounted robotic arms: Kinematic analysis and evaluation

This paper focuses on kinematic analysis and evaluation of Wheelchair Mounted Robotic Arms (WMRA). It addresses its kinematics with respect to its ability to reach common positions while performing activities of daily living (ADL). A procedure is developed for the kinematic analysis and evaluation of a wheelchair mounted robotic arm. Current commercially-available wheelchair mountable robotic manipulators have been designed specifically for use in rehabilitation robotics. In an effort to evaluate two commercial manipulators, the procedure for kinematic analysis is applied to each manipulator. Evaluation and design recommendations and insights are obtained for each of the studied WMRA. Standardized procedure for kinematic analysis of WMRAs that is capable of evaluating independent designs has been developed to provide beneficial evaluation tool for researchers.