Towards an Open Rehabilitation Device Using Recumbent Cycling

Lower limb rehabilitation methods combination are increasing. A particular strategy combines the usage of a recumbent bicycle, with functional electrical stimulation (FES). In this context, the power to move the pedals is generated by the activation of a FES system over different muscle groups. Many control methods for this kind of platforms were developed, using angular velocity as the controlled variable. In this paper we present the development of a FES recumbent bicycle rehabilitation platform to design and develop control strategies, with focus in minimising the FES related early fatigue effects. In this platform, we additionally introduced an electric motor, force sensors over the pedals, and a surface electromyography registering system. All these implementations were performed using dedicated embedded systems.