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A Simple Dynamic Controller for Emulating Human Balance Control

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Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems (Living Machines 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 14158))

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Abstract

This paper presents a biologically inspired control system developed for maintaining balance in a simulated human atop an oscillating platform. This work advances our previous research by adapting a human balance controller to an inverted pendulum and controlled by linear-Hill muscle models. To expedite neuron/synapse parameter value selection, we employ a novel two-stage process that pairs a previously developed analytic method with particle swarm optimization. Using the parameter values found analytically as inputs for particle swarm optimization (PSO), we take advantage of the benefits of each method while avoiding their pitfalls. Our results show that PSO optimization allowed improved balance control from modest (<10%) changes to the synaptic parameters. The improved performance was accompanied by muscle coactivations, however, and further refinement is needed to better align overall behavior of the neural controller with biological systems.

This work was supported by NSF DBI 2015317 as part of the NSF/CIHR/DFG/FRQ/UKRI-MRC next Generation Networks for Neuroscience Program

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Table 29, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_03/sr03-046-508.pdf.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science, Portland State University, Portland, OR, 97201, USA

    J. Stu McNeal & Alexander Hunt

Authors
  1. J. Stu McNeal
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  2. Alexander Hunt
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Correspondence to J. Stu McNeal .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy

    Fabian Meder

  2. Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA

    Alexander Hunt

  3. Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy

    Laura Margheri

  4. Radboud University Nijmegen, Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Anna Mura

  5. Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy

    Barbara Mazzolai

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McNeal, J.S., Hunt, A. (2023). A Simple Dynamic Controller for Emulating Human Balance Control. In: Meder, F., Hunt, A., Margheri, L., Mura, A., Mazzolai, B. (eds) Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems. Living Machines 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 14158. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39504-8_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39504-8_16

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