Design of a Bilaterally Asymmetric Pedaling Machine and its Measuring System for Medical Rehabilitation

Most commercially available rehabilitation machines are bilateral symmetric. This makes it difficult to use for people with lower-limb injuries. This paper explains the design of a bilaterally asymmetric pedaling machine and its measuring system to solve this problem. Pedaling angles, strokes, and force of this machine can easily be adjusted independently for the left and right legs. Pedaling force and strokes, heart rate, and electromyogram (EMS) signals of walking muscles are recorded using a measuring system. This ensures the interaction between lower-limb exercises, and the computer-based supervision and control of medical rehabilitation. A prototype of a half model of the machine was built. Preliminary tests for the basic functions were carried out and demonstrated the validity of the machine and the measuring system.