Metrological charactetization of a cycle ergometer

A cycle-ergometer has been instrumented with suitable strain gauges to obtain metrological qualified measurements of the left and right leg torque. A wireless device has been used to transmit in real-time the gathered signals to the acquisition PC. Advantages are to give to doctors and physiotherapists a diagnostic tool, to analyze the cycling pattern of the patients and to monitor the improvements during rehabilitation. The real-time measures are also suitable input data for the Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES). All the analysis was conducted with a particular attention to spinal cord injured patients, who are characterized by highly asymmetric cycling: yet, this measurement setup, by independent measurement of right and left torques, can be used successfully also in this particular situation. An explanation of the measuring principles and a set of first results are given, that show the potentiality of the setup.