skip to main content


Title: Cadence Tracking for Switched FES Cycling with Unknown Input Delay
Functional electrical stimulation (FES) induced cycling provides a means of therapeutic exercise and functional restoration for people affected by neuromuscular disorders. A challenge in closed-loop FES control of coordinated motion is the presence of a potentially destabilizing input delay between the application of the electrical stimulation and the resulting muscle contraction. Moreover, switching amongst multiple actuators (e.g., between FES control of various muscle groups and a controlled electric motor) presents additional challenges for overall system stability. In this paper, a closed-loop controller is developed to yield exponential cadence tracking, despite an unknown input delay, switching between FES and motor only control, uncertain nonlinear dynamics, and additive disturbances. Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals are used in a Lyapunov-based stability analysis to ensure exponential convergence for all time.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1762829
NSF-PAR ID:
10137801
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
2019 IEEE 58th Conference on Decision and Control (CDC)
Page Range / eLocation ID:
60 - 65
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. null (Ed.)
    A common rehabilitative technique for those with neuro-muscular disorders is functional electrical stimulation (FES) induced exercise such as FES-induced biceps curls. FES has been shown to have numerous health benefits, such as increased muscle mass and retraining of the nervous system. Closed-loop control of a motorized FES system presents numerous challenges since the system has nonlinear and uncertain dynamics and switching is required between motor and FES control, which is further complicated by the muscle having an uncertain control effectiveness. An additional complication of FES systems is that high gain feedback from traditional robust controllers can be uncomfortable to the participant. In this paper, data-based, opportunistic learning is achieved by implementing an integral concurrent learning (ICL) controller during a motorized and FES-induced biceps curl exercise. The ICL controller uses adaptive feedforward terms to augment the FES controller to reduce the required control input. A Lyapunov-based analysis is performed to ensure exponential trajectory tracking and opportunistic, exponential learning of the uncertain human and machine parameters. In addition to improved tracking performance and robustness, the potential of learning the specific dynamics of a person during a rehabilitative exercise could be clinically significant. Preliminary simulation results are provided and demonstrate an average position error of 0.14 ± 1.17 deg and an average velocity error of 0.004 ± 1.18 deg/s. 
    more » « less
  2. Functional electrical stimulation (FES) induced exercise, such as motorized FES-cycling, is commonly used in rehabilitation for lower limb movement disorders. A challenge in closed-loop FES control is the presence of an input delay between the application (and removal) of the electrical stimulus and the production of muscle force. Moreover, switching between motor control and FES control of various muscle groups can be destabilizing. This paper examines the development of a control method and state-dependent trigger condition to account for the time-varying input delayed response. Uniformly ultimately bounded tracking for a switched uncertain nonlinear dynamic system with input delays is achieved. 
    more » « less
  3. null (Ed.)
    Many people are affected by a wide range of neuromuscular disorders, many of which can be improved through the use of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) rehabilitative cycling. Recent improvements in nonlinear, Lyapunov-based FES muscle control with motor assistance in unstimulated regions of the cycle-crank rotation have led to a reduction in muscle fatigue, allowing rehabilitation time to be extended. Studies in rehabilitation have shown that the addition of coordinated movement between the upper limbs and lower limbs can have a positive effect on neural plasticity leading to faster restoration of walking in those who have some neurological disorders. In this paper, to implement coordinated motion during rehabilitation, a strongly coupled bilateral telerobotic system is developed between a hand-cycle system driven by the participant’s volitional efforts and a split-crank leg-cycle system driven by the switched application of FES with motor assistance. A variable operator is applied to the leg-cycle’s motor input during the FES stimulation regions to provide assistance as required. Lyapunov-based analysis methods are used on the combined leg and hand-cycle system to prove global exponential stability. Analysis further proves that all switched system inputs are bounded, thus the states of the telerobotic master (i.e., hand-cycle system) are bounded, therefore, the telerobotic system is stable. 
    more » « less
  4. Functional electrical stimulation (FES) has proven to be an effective method for improving health and regaining muscle function for people with limited or reduced motor skills. Closed-loop control of motorized FES-cycling can facilitate recovery. Many people with movement disorders (e.g., stroke) have asymmetries in their motor control, motivating the need for a closed-loop control system that can be implemented on a split-crank cycle. In this paper, nonlinear sliding mode controllers are designed for the FES and electric motor on each side of a split-crank cycle to maintain a desired cadence and a crank angle offset of 180 degrees, simulating standard pedaling conditions. A Lyapunov-like function is used to prove stability and tracking of the desired cadence and position for the combined cycle-rider system. One experimental trial on an able-bodied individual demonstrated the feasibility and stability of the closed-loop controller, which resulted in an average cadence error of 2.62 ± 3.54 RPM for the dominant leg and an average position and cadence error of 39.84±10.77 degrees and −0.04 ± 8.79 RPM for the non-dominant leg. 
    more » « less
  5. null (Ed.)
    Rehabilitation robotics is an emerging tool for motor recovery from various neurological impairments. However, balancing the human and robot contribution is an open problem. While the motor input can reduce fatigue, which is often a limiting factor of functional electrical stimulation (FES) exercises, too much assistance can slow progress. For a person with a neurological impairment, FES can assist by strategically contracting their muscle(s) to achieve a desired limb movement; however, feasibility can be limited due to factors such as subject comfort, muscle mass, unnatural muscle fiber recruitment, and stimulation saturation. Thus, motor assistance in addition to FES can be useful for prolonging exercise while still ensuring physical effort from the person. In this paper, FES is applied to the biceps brachii to perform biceps curls, and motor assistance is applied intermittently whenever the FES input reaches a pre-set comfort threshold. Exponential stability of the human–robot system is proven with a Lyapunov-like switched systems stability analysis. Experimental results from participants with neurological conditions demonstrate the feasibility and performance of the controller. 
    more » « less