Fuzzy Controller Design for Assisted Omni-Directional Treadmill Therapy
  One of the defining characteristic of human being is their ability to walk
upright. Loss or restriction of such ability whether due to the accident, spine
problem, stroke or other neurological injuries can cause tremendous stress on
the patients and hence will contribute negatively to their quality of life.
Modern research shows that physical exercise is very important for maintaining
physical fitness and adopting a healthier life style. In modern days treadmill
is widely used for physical exercises and training which enables the user to
set up an exercise regime that can be adhered to irrespective of the weather
conditions. Among the users of treadmills today are medical facilities such as
hospitals, rehabilitation centres, medical and physiotherapy clinics etc. The
process of assisted training or doing rehabilitation exercise through treadmill
is referred to as treadmill therapy. A modern treadmill is an automated machine
having built in functions and predefined features. Most of the treadmills used
today are one dimensional and user can only walk in one direction. This paper
presents the idea of using omnidirectional treadmills which will be more
appealing to the patients as they can walk in any direction, hence encouraging
them to do exercises more frequently. This paper proposes a fuzzy control
design and possible implementation strategy to assist patients in treadmill
therapy. By intelligently controlling the safety belt attached to the treadmill
user, one can help them steering left, right or in any direction. The use of
intelligent treadmill therapy can help patients to improve their walking
ability without being continuously supervised by the specialists. The patients
can walk freely within a limited space and the support system will provide
continuous evaluation of their position and can adjust the control parameters
of treadmill accordingly to provide best possible assistance.
