This paper details an intelligent motion planning and control approach for a one-degree of freedom joint of a robotic arm that can be used to implement anthropomorphic robotic hands. This intelligent control method is based on bio-inspired electronic neural networks and contractile artificial muscles implemented with shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators. The spiking neural network (SNN) includes several excitatory neurons that naturally determine the contraction force of the actuators, and unevenly distributed inhibitory neurons that regulate the excitatory activity. To validate the proposed concept, the experiments highlight the motion planning and control of a single-joint robotic arm. The results show that the electronic neural network is able to intelligently activate motion and hold with high precision the mobile link to the target positions even if the arm is slightly loaded. These results are encouraging for the development of improved biologically plausible neural structures that are able to control simultaneously multiple muscles.
