Biomechanics, rehabilitation and optimisation of human motion

P. Kiriazov

Abstract: Motion performance optimisation is needed in various daily life and sport activities, especially for people with movement disorders due to stroke, trauma, or neurological diseases. The important performance indices are motion/posture accuracy, movement execution time, and energy expenditure. Generally speaking, we need to consider complicated optimisation problems for complex neuro-musculo-skeletal systems. For analysis of specific motion tasks and their control optimisation, we may use properly simplified mathematical models that sufficiently well represent the corresponding kinematics, dynamics, and control functions. First, a set of variables/controlled outputs that best characterize human dynamic performance in the required motion task has to be defined. Second, we have to find those driving forces/torques that mostly contribute to the dynamic performance in this task. Further on, in order to achieve efficient rehabilitation and performance optimization it is very important to know how to optimise the corresponding control functions. The proposed methodology is based on underlying principles and advanced concepts from multibody dynamics, optimal control theory, neurophysiology, and control learning. We will give several examples to explain the basic features of our research and some important possibilities for its development and application.

Keywords: control learning; Dynamics; performance optimisation

Date published: 2013-03-09