Cadence Tracking and Disturbance Rejection in Functional Electrical Stimulation Cycling for Paraplegic Subjects: A Case Study

Lucas Fonseca (1) , Antonio Padilha Lanari Bo (1) , Juliana A Guimaraes (2) , Miguel Eduardo Gutierrez Paredes (1) , Ulisses de Araújo (1) , Christine Azevedo Coste (3) , Emerson Fachin-Martins (2)

1 LARA - Laboratório de Automação e Robótica
2 NTAAI - Núcleo de Tecnologia Assistiva, Acessibilidade e Inovação
3 CAMIN - Control of Artificial Movement and Intuitive Neuroprosthesis

Functional Electrical Stimulation cycling has numerous benefits for subjects with Spinal Cord Injury. It can improve cardiovascular function, increase muscular mass, and reduce bone mass loss. However, some limitations, e.g. lack of optimal control strategies that would delay fatigue, may still prevent this technology from achieving its full potential. This work tests a control strategy on a complete spinal cord injury subject with a stationary tadpole trike. Two experiments were performed: reference tracking and disturbance rejection. The results show that reference tracking is possible above the cadence of 25 rpm with a mean absolute error lower than 2.5 rpm. The disturbance test showed that it may cause the cadence to drop but still maintain movement if it doesn't get below 25 rpm. When the disturbance is removed, the system is capable of returning the cadence to the initial value.

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]

Lucas Fonseca, Antonio Padilha Lanari Bo, Juliana A Guimaraes, Miguel Eduardo Gutierrez Paredes, Ulisses de Araújo, et al.. Cadence Tracking and Disturbance Rejection in Functional Electrical Stimulation Cycling for Paraplegic Subjects: A Case Study. Artificial Organs, 2017, Special Issue - IFESS Conference, 41 (11), pp.E185-E195. ⟨10.1111/aor.13055⟩. ⟨lirmm-01412163⟩