Abstract
Microcontrollers are widely used in the area of portable control systems, though they are only beginning to be used for portable, unobtrusive Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) systems. This paper describes the initial prototyping of such a portable system. This has the intended use of detecting time variant gait anomalies in patients with hemiplegia, and correcting for them. The system is described in two parts. Firstly, the portable hardware implementing two independent communicating microcontrollers for low powered parallel processing and secondly the simplified low power software. Both are designed specifically for long term, stable use and also to communicate with PC based visual software for testing and evaluation. The system operates by using bend sensors to defect the angles of the hip, knee and ankle of both legs. It computes an error signal with which to produce a stimulation wave cycle, that is synchronised and timed for the new gait cycle from that in which the error was observed. This system uses a PID controller to correct for the instability inherent with such a large time delay between observation and correction.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
