Haptic-based resistance training machine and its application to biceps exercises

This paper introduces the design of a haptic-based resistance training machine and deals with the details of a control scheme for biceps exercises. The developed training machine has three components: 1) Machine hardware; 2) Impedance control based resistance generator; and 3) User interface. It can enable various resistance trainings considering the biomechanical behavior of individual user. That is, in contrast to conventional exercise machines, it can easily generate two-dimensional exercise motions and resistance profiles with respect to an individual’s musculoskeletal characteristics. This feature can help users to easily execute an arbitrary exercise pattern that can maximize exercise performance. We choose the biceps exercise as its first application and implement an impedance control scheme for executing the newly suggested exercise protocol. Details of the experimental results are included for verification.