Muscle mechanics and sensory feedback control

Abstract

It is shown that the intrinsic mechanical properties of muscles are important components for sensory feedback control. The results are obtained through a computer simulation of small perturbation responses of a three joints musculoskeletal control system using either a hypothetical muscle model having constant force-length and force-velocity relations or a muscle model having complex, nonlinear properties as known today. The optimal feedback control matrix is also generated for both cases. It is shown that while it is possible to obtain comparable closed-loop responses, the feedback gains for the simple linear muscle model are much larger than that for the complex nonlinear muscle model.<>