Modeling of Relative Damping in Defining the Equilibrium Point Trajectory for the Human Arm Movement Control

Existing research suggests that limb motion can be represented as an Equilibrium Point (EP) trajectory in combination with a trajectory that reflects specified damping and stiffness at each joint. This model utilizes the concept of relative damping, an integral factor in defining the Equilibrium Point trajectory, to help maintain stability during the arm movement. By using commercialized Flock of Bird® (FOB) sensor, we can obtain experimental trajectories and angular information for human elbow and shoulder joints, as well as forearm and upper arm position during reaching in slow and fast movements. We replaced the complicated inverse kinematics computation of brain with our simple relative damping model, and then calculated the EP trajectories of the elbow and shoulder to use as inputs to our following forward kinematics model. The model generated trajectories which closely match the experimental data. The novel features of this model include the EP trajectory input generated by relative damping. Therefore, we conclude that multi-joint manipulations can be modeled by an appropriate EP trajectory along with relative damping.