Self adaptive neuro-fuzzy control of FES-assisted paraplegics indoor rowing exercise

This paper describes the development of a self adaptive neuro-fuzzy control mechanism for FES-assisted indoor rowing exercise (FES-rowing). The FES-rowing is introduced as a total body exercise for rehabilitation of function of lower body through the application of functional electrical stimulation (FES). The neuro-fuzzy control technique is a control technique that combines fuzzy logic controller and a neural network, which makes the controller self tuning and adaptive. An adaptive control strategy is purposed to control the FES-rowing with the adaptation of the muscle fitness of the physiological based muscle model in the FLC. The adaptive control is able to modify the control law used by the FLC to cope with the muscle fatigue in adjusting the rowing ergometer inclination and generating the stimulation pulse width required by the system. This study indicates that the self adaptive neuro-fuzzy control developed provides an effective mechanism for automatically adjusting the ergometer inclination and regulating the stimulation pulse width for FES-rowing to overcome muscle fatigue.