A new control model for the temporal coordination of arm transport and hand preshape applying to two-dimensional space

Abstract

It is an important research subject for the fields of cybernetics, robotics and artificial intelligence science that on the basis of neurophysiology and neuroanatomy, simulates and replicates the cerebellar sensorimotor control system for the robots. Around this theme and based on Hoff and Arbib׳s control theory of the minimum jerk, this paper presents a new control model with cerebellar-like structure which can account for the temporal coordination of arm transport and hand preshape during reach and grasp tasks. And it has also been suggested that how the structure could learn the two key functions required in the Hoff–Arbib theory, namely state look-ahead and TTG (time-to-go) estimation. By the simulation for two-dimensional motion of arm transport and hand preshape, the results demonstrate that some key features of human reach–grasp kinematics obtained by Hoff–Arbib model can be achieved by the cerebellum control model and some performances are even better. In a word, by learning and training, the model can obtain the accurate smooth motor trajectory.