This paper describes the effect of voluntary upper body movement in assisting the indoor rowing exercise for paraplegics. The indoor rowing exercise is introduced as a total body exercise for rehabilitation of function of lower extremities through the application of functional electrical stimulation (FES). The model is developed using Visual Nastran Software. Three different damping levels of the flywheel are set up to provide different pulling forces during the pull phase of rowing manoeuvre. Fuzzy logic control is implemented to control the knee and elbow trajectory for each of the damper level settings. The generated level of electrical stimulations for activation of quadriceps and hamstrings muscles are recorded and analysed. In view of good results obtained, it is concluded that the voluntary upper body movement with proper rowing manoeuvre significantly contributes to assisting paraplegics' indoor rowing exercise.
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