The virtual-real interaction system design and interaction characteristics research of an ankle rehabilitation robot based on digital twin

Background In recent years, the large-scale epidemics and the increasing demand for rehabilitation generated a demand for remote rehabilitation, while digital twin provided technical support for home-based rehabilitation. Objective In order to monitor the operation status of rehabilitation robot and make dynamic adjustments, a virtual-real interaction system for an ankle rehabilitation robot (VRIS-ARR) is designed based on the digital twin theory, and its virtual-real interaction characteristics is researched. Methods The VRIS-ARR is consisted of physical layer, communication layer, virtual layer and application layer, and is designed by the application of software tools such as 3ds Max, Unity 3D, C#, Python. The database technology and multi-threaded development method are applied to realize the virtual-real interaction function of the system. Results The performance and function experiments of the VRIS-ARR are carried out, and the system has the characteristics of strong virtual-real interaction, which can work smoothly with high control accuracy and without obvious delay. Conclusion The experimental results indicate that the developed VRIS-ARR is very reliable between the ankle rehabilitation robot and the host computer.