A testbed for testing an active body support system for locomotion training

This paper describes the design of an experimental testbed used for nonhuman test of an active body-weight support system for treadmill based locomotion rehabilitation. The body support system is designed to off load not only partial weight but also inertia force (dynamic load) of the patient who is supported by the system during neural training. To avoid human subject test in the early phase of the technology development, a cam-slider based testbed is designed to facilitate the test of the active cable control of the body support system. The goal of the test is to see if the testbed can generate an accurate periodical motion pattern mimicking a human walking gait. The paper describes the design of the testbed hardware and a simulation test of the dynamic performance of the testbed.