Applying fuzzy logic to control cycling movement induced by functional electrical stimulation

This study examines the design of a rational stimulation pattern for electrical stimulation and a robust closed-loop control scheme to improve cycling system efficacy for subjects with paraplegia. The stimulation patterns were designed by analyzing gravitation potential needed for the cycling movement of the lower limbs against a frictionless cycling ergometer and the response delay of electrically stimulated muscles. To simplify the cycling control system, the stimulation patterns were fixed and only the single gain of the stimulation patterns was adjusted via a feedback control algorithm. To circumvent the complexity involved with exactly modeling a stimulated muscle and cycling ergometer, a model-free fuzzy logic controller (FLC) was adopted herein for our control scheme. Comparison between FLC and conventional proportional-derivative (PD) controllers demonstrated that the FLC with asymmetrical membership function enabled the subject with paraplegia to maintain varied desired cycling speeds, particularly at lower cycling speed. By incorporating the rational stimulation patterns, the FLC can produce a smooth and prolonged cycling movement deemed necessary for designing various training protocols.