Rehabilitation Robot Hand Controller RFQ: Separate Therapy, Pause and Safety Inputs

A rehabilitation-robot hand controller should be quoted from a control-authority map, not from a button count. Put therapy commands, session adjustment and ordinary pause on the normal HMI only after defining who may use them and in which robot states. Keep the validated safety-stop path physically and electrically separate unless the system owner has specified otherwise. Then quote the overlay, key stack, tail, connector, housing interface and mounted-sample evidence as one controlled package. An A3 rehabilitation-robot update published August 26 describes adaptive physical interaction while therapists remain responsible for assessment, treatment decisions and supervision. That division of responsibility is the right starting point for the controller RFQ.

Begin with four control classes, not a button count

A drawing that says `six keys` does not explain what any key is allowed to do. The same printed symbol can mean start a prepared therapy sequence, accept a setup value, acknowledge a message or request a normal pause. Those actions have different consequences, users and validation owners.

Classify each visible control before artwork release.

This table is quotation evidence, not a medical or robot-safety specification. The equipment manufacturer decides the actual functions through its risk management, controls architecture and clinical-use requirements.

Turn a therapy session into a permission map

Map the real session from preparation through recovery. A simple sequence might include equipment check, patient positioning, therapist login or mode selection, exercise setup, assisted movement, ordinary pause, resume, session end and service recovery. Your actual sequence may differ, but every key needs one place in it.

For each control, record five items:

1. **User:** therapist, operator, technician or another defined role.

2. **Allowed states:** the precise robot states in which the input is accepted.

3. **Action:** the command requested from the higher-level controller.

4. **Feedback:** visual, audible or physical evidence that the request was received or rejected.

5. **Recovery:** what the user must do after a blocked input, communication loss, power interruption or ordinary pause.

Mark denied actions as deliberately as allowed ones. If a therapy-start key must do nothing while a guard, calibration or service condition is unresolved, the sample test should confirm the blocked result and its feedback. If ordinary pause can be resumed only by the therapist who initiated it, that authority belongs in the controller logic and test script, not only in the printed legend.

Do not use the public A3 article as proof of any specific keypad architecture. It supplies timely context for therapist supervision and adaptive interaction. The hand-controller functions, safety concept and clinical validation still require project-specific evidence.

Let authority drive the panel stack

Once the permission map is controlled, the component drawing can become specific. Freeze the visible window, key zones, embossing or tactile choice, spacer, circuit or FPC, tail, connector, adhesive land and any gasket relationship. Give every key a stable ID that appears in the artwork, circuit map and workflow table.

The physical design should also reduce authority errors. Separate therapy commands from service inputs by position, shape or access method. Keep the ordinary pause area easy to find without suggesting that it replaces the separately validated safety hardware. If a display shows mode, patient setup or blocked-state feedback, control the viewing window and registration tolerance against the mounted display, not against the loose overlay alone.

Tail and connector details are part of usability and serviceability. Show the tail exit, first-bend keepout, dynamic or static bend assumption, stiffener, exposed-contact or connector definition, pin-one orientation, latch direction, mating access and strain-relief path. A front panel that looks correct but twists the tail during enclosure closure is not an approved controller assembly.

Cleaning exposure also belongs in the stack decision. Identify the agents, wipe method, frequency, dwell and edge exposure supplied by the equipment owner. The supplier can recommend and test component materials against the agreed method, but cannot infer a complete device cleaning claim from a generic overlay sample.

Prototype contamination and fatigue before full tooling

A therapist hand controller may be touched repeatedly with gloves, repositioned around a robot and cleaned between sessions. That makes a loose visual sample inadequate. Build a production-intent panel into a representative pendant or fixture before approving tooling or a larger order.

The first sample loop should answer practical questions:

• Can a gloved user distinguish the therapy, adjustment and ordinary pause areas without pressing an adjacent key?
• Does the rigid support prevent false activation when the pendant is gripped or set on a cart?
• Does the display window remain aligned after the overlay and housing are assembled?
• Does the adhesive or gasket land stay continuous around the window, key field and tail exit?
• Can the tail reach the connector without a sharp bend, rubbing edge or enclosure pinch?
• Can the service technician disconnect and reconnect the termination without pulling the printed circuit?
• After the buyer's cleaning and repeated-use sequence, do print, surface, edge bond, key response and connector retention remain within the approved criteria?

Record the fixture, glove type, mounting torque where relevant, cleaning method, sample revision and acceptance limits. Do not replace measurable acceptance with `feels good` or `works normally`.

Approve the mounted pendant in one controlled session

Use a staged sample approval instead of jumping from artwork to a live therapy environment.

**Drawing review:** close the role and state map, artwork, circuit, connector, enclosure datums, safety boundary and open-item list. The buyer approves project inputs before tooling.

**Bench inspection:** check dimensions, print registration, window position, key response, continuity, tail geometry, connector assembly and traceability. Compare the sample with the released drawing and circuit map.

**Mounted dry run:** assemble the panel into a production-equivalent pendant. Verify support, gasket or adhesive compression, display alignment, tail route, strain relief, connector access and housing closure. Exercise each normal HMI input against a simulator or controlled controller setup supplied by the system owner.

**Controlled workflow test:** the qualified robot or medical-device team tests allowed, blocked, acknowledgement, ordinary-pause, recovery and service behaviors in the defined system configuration. Separately test the validated safety function under its own procedure. A component continuity report cannot substitute for this step.

Approval should name the panel, pendant, PCB, harness, robot controller, software and test-script revisions. If any of those change, the owner decides which tests must be repeated.

Where the HMI supplier stops

A custom HMI supplier can manufacture the graphic overlay, display window, physical key zones, embossing where specified, tactile or non-tactile stack, spacer, adhesive geometry, printed circuit or FPC, tail, stiffener, connector and agreed indicators or backlighting. The supplier can inspect component dimensions, appearance, print registration, continuity, contact behavior, tail geometry and connector assembly against controlled buyer inputs.

The supplier does not own therapy protocol, clinical assessment, patient selection, robot motion, force or impedance control, safety architecture, emergency-stop performance, controller software, cybersecurity, risk management, regulatory clearance or final device validation unless those services are explicitly assigned to qualified parties. An ordinary membrane-switch contact must not be presented as a safety-rated emergency-stop circuit. The equipment manufacturer and system integrator retain those decisions and evidence.

Put that boundary in the RFQ, quotation, drawing notes, sample report and change-control plan. It prevents a successful component inspection from being misread as proof of a complete rehabilitation system.

RFQ evidence pack for a rehabilitation robot controller

For a custom HMI panel solution with controlled key zones, display window, tail and connector interface, send one revision-controlled package:

• device and hand-controller purpose, use environment and intended operator roles;
• session-state diagram and one row for every allowed, blocked, acknowledged and recovery action;
• clear separation of therapy commands, session adjustment, ordinary pause, safety hardware and service authority;
• front artwork, key IDs, display and indicator locations, colors and viewing requirements;
• circuit or contact map, connector-side pinout, mating-part definition, polarity and buyer-supplied electrical limits;
• panel outline, housing cutout, rigid key support, display stack, adhesive land and gasket relationship;
• tail exit, first-bend keepout, routing, length, stiffener, connector orientation, latch access and strain relief;
• cleaning agents, wipe method, frequency, dwell, glove type and expected handling exposure;
• controlled enclosure, PCB, harness, robot-controller and software revisions used for sample approval;
• drawing, bench, mounted dry-run and controlled workflow acceptance criteria;
• safety-boundary owner and the separate procedure for validating protective functions;
• prototype quantity, annual quantity range, traceability, packaging and change-notification requirements.

Send the package through the Request Quote page. A supplier can then quote the physical interface and sample evidence truthfully, while the robot and medical-device owners keep treatment, motion and safety decisions under their own controlled processes.