Locomotion assistance for the person with mobility impairment: fuzzy control of cycling movement by means of surface electrical-stimulation.
Since a wheelchair was originally designed as a transportation vehicle for people who can not walk well due to the degenerative muscles of legs in the case elderly and disabled persons, it was not considered to use lower limbs to drive a wheelchair. Wheelchairs driven by arms cause a shoulder disorder, atrophy of leg muscles and a contracture of leg joints. On the other hand, while wheelchairs driven by legs can prevent or alleviate those symptoms in daily life, it is difficult to drive a wheelchair if the muscles are not strong enough. To solve this problem the functional electrical stimulation is carried out on leg muscles to pedal the wheelchair, and to stabilize the speed a motor is equipped. The leg cycling movement in this paper is controlled by fuzzy logic. Experiments of cycling using three healthy young men are performed on a level surface, and prove the effectiveness of smooth cycling movement. The electrical stimulation is also added to the external oblique of subjects sitting on a chair to examine the possibility to become effective exercise instead of treadmill training by keeping balance.
Ogawa
Yohei
Y
Graduate School of Kyushu Institute of Technology, Sensuimachi1-1, Tobata-ku, Kitakyusyu-shi, Fukuoka, 804-0550, Japan. f344207y@tobata.isc.kyutech.ac.jp
Inoue
Takashi
T
Inada
Tomohisa
T
Tagawa
Yoshihiko
Y
Yoshimitsu
Kazuhiro
K
Shiba
Naoto
N
D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004566:Electrodes; D004867:Equipment Design; D017143:Fuzzy Logic; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000473:pathology*; D008124:Locomotion; D009068:Movement; D009132:Muscles; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013499:Surface Properties; D014910:Wheelchairs