scholarly journals Reaching to inhibit a prepotent response: A wearable 3-axis accelerometer kinematic analysis

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0254514
Author(s):  
Alessia Angeli ◽  
Irene Valori ◽  
Teresa Farroni ◽  
Gustavo Marfia
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Dominant Response ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Prepotent Response ◽  
Human Movements ◽  
Kinematic Measures ◽  
And Control ◽  
Selection Of

The present work explores the distinctive contribution of motor planning and control to human reaching movements. In particular, the movements were triggered by the selection of a prepotent response (Dominant) or, instead, by the inhibition of the prepotent response, which required the selection of an alternative one (Non-dominant). To this end, we adapted a Go/No-Go task to investigate both the dominant and non-dominant movements of a cohort of 19 adults, utilizing kinematic measures to discriminate between the planning and control components of the two actions. In this experiment, a low-cost, easy to use, 3-axis wrist-worn accelerometer was put to good use to obtain raw acceleration data and to compute and break down its velocity components. The values obtained with this task indicate that with the inhibition of a prepotent response, the selection and execution of the alternative one yields both a longer reaction time and movement duration. Moreover, the peak velocity occurred later in time in the non-dominant response with respect to the dominant response, revealing that participants tended to indulge more in motor planning than in adjusting their movement along the way. Finally, comparing such results to the findings obtained by other means in the literature, we discuss the feasibility of an accelerometer-based analysis to disentangle distinctive cognitive mechanisms of human movements.

scholarly journals Reaching to inhibit a prepotent response: a wearable 3-axis accelerometer kinematic analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessia Angeli ◽  
Irene Valori ◽  
Teresa Farroni ◽  
Gustavo Marfia
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Prepotent Response ◽  
Human Movements ◽  
Acceleration Data ◽  
Kinematic Measures ◽  
And Control ◽  
Selection Of

AbstractThe present work explores the distinctive contribution of motor planning and control to human reaching movements. In particular, the movements were triggered by the selection of a prepotent response (Dominant) or, instead, by the inhibition of the prepotent response, that required the selection of an alternative one (Non-dominant). To this aim, we adapted a Go/No-Go task to investigate both the dominant and non-dominant movements of a cohort of 19 adults, utilizing kinematic measures to discriminate between the planning and control components of the two actions. To sample such measures, a low-cost, easy to use, 3-axis wrist worn accelerometer was put to good use to obtain raw acceleration data and to compute and break down its velocity components. The values obtained with such task indicate that with the inhibition of a prepotent response, the selection and execution of the alternative one yields both a longer reaction time and movement duration. Moreover, the peak velocity occurred later in time with respect to the dominant response, revealing that participants tended to indulge more in motor planning rather than in adjusting their movement along the way. Finally, comparing such results to the findings obtained by other means in literature, we discuss the feasibility of an accelerometer-based analysis to disentangle distinctive cognitive mechanisms of human movements.

scholarly journals Autonomous Deployment of Underwater Acoustic Monitoring Devices Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: The Flying Hydrophone

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (21) ◽  
pp. 6064
Author(s):  
Daniel Babatunde ◽  
Simon Pomeroy ◽  
Paul Lepper ◽  
Ben Clark ◽  
Rebecca Walker
Keyword(s):  
Autonomous Navigation ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Fourier Transforms ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Acoustic Monitoring ◽  
Automatic Data ◽  
Underwater Acoustic ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
And Control

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are increasingly becoming a popular tool in the observation and study of marine mammals. However, the potential capabilities of these vehicles regarding autonomous operations are not being fully exploited for passive underwater acoustic monitoring in marine mammal research. This article presents results from the development of a UAV system equipped with an underwater acoustic recorder aimed at assisting with the monitoring of harbour porpoises in Special Areas of Conservation in the United Kingdom. The UAV is capable of autonomous navigation, persistent landing, take-off and automatic data acquisition at specified waypoints. The system architecture that enables autonomous UAV flight including waypoint planning and control is described. A bespoke lightweight underwater acoustic recorder (named the PorpDAQ) capable of transmitting the results of fast Fourier transforms (FFT) applied to incoming signals from a hydrophone was also designed. The system’s operation is successfully validated with a combination of outdoor experiments and indoor simulations demonstrating different UAVs capable of autonomously navigating and landing at specific waypoints while recording data in an indoor tank. Results from the recorder suggest that lightweight, relatively low-cost systems can be used in place of heavier more expensive alternatives.

Design and Analysis of a Multimodal Grasper Having Shape Conformity and Within-Hand Manipulation With Adjustable Contact Forces

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nagamanikandan Govindan ◽  
Asokan Thondiyath
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategies ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Active Surface ◽  
Force Sensor ◽  
Contact Forces ◽  
Geometrical Shape ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Control Scheme ◽  
And Control ◽  
Compact Mechanism

Abstract This paper presents the design, analysis, and testing of a novel multimodal grasper having the capabilities of shape conformation, within-hand manipulation, and a built-in compact mechanism to vary the forces at the contact surface. The proposed grasper has two important qualities: versatility and less complexity. The former refers to the ability to grasp a range of objects having different geometrical shape, size, and payload and perform in-hand manipulations such as rolling and sliding, and the latter refers to the uncomplicated design, and ease of planning and control strategies. Increasing the number of functions performed by the grasper to adapt to a variety of tasks in structured and unstructured environments without increasing the mechanical complexity is the main interest of this research. The proposed grasper consists of two hybrid jaws having a rigid inner structure encompassed by a flexible, active gripping surface. The flexibility of the active surface has been exploited to achieve shape conformation, and the same has been utilized with a compact mechanism, introduced in the jaws, to vary the contact forces while grasping and manipulating an object. Simple and scalable structure, compactness, low cost, and simple control scheme are the main features of the proposed design. Detailed kinematic and static analysis are presented to show the capability of the grasper to adjust and estimate the contact forces without using a force sensor. Experiments are conducted on the fabricated prototype to validate the different modes of operation and to evaluate the advantages of the proposed concept.

Complex Unconstrained Three-Dimensional Hand Movement and Constant Equi-Affine Speed

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 1002-1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uri Maoz ◽  
Alain Berthoz ◽  
Tamar Flash
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Hand Movement ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Hand Movements ◽  
Human Hand ◽  
Local Geometry ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Human Movements ◽  
And Control ◽  
Geometry And Kinematics

One long-established simplifying principle behind the large repertoire and high versatility of human hand movements is the two-thirds power law—an empirical law stating a relationship between local geometry and kinematics of human hand trajectories during planar curved movements. It was further generalized not only to various types of human movements, but also to motion perception and prediction, although it was unsuccessful in explaining unconstrained three-dimensional (3D) movements. Recently, movement obeying the power law was proved to be equivalent to moving with constant planar equi-affine speed. Generalizing such motion to 3D space—i.e., to movement at constant spatial equi-affine speed—predicts the emergence of a new power law, whose utility for describing spatial scribbling movements we have previously demonstrated. In this empirical investigation of the new power law, subjects repetitively traced six different 3D geometrical shapes with their hand. We show that the 3D power law explains the data consistently better than both the two-thirds power law and an additional power law that was previously suggested for spatial hand movements. We also found small yet systematic modifications of the power-law's exponents across the various shapes, which further scrutiny suggested to be correlated with global geometric factors of the traced shape. Nevertheless, averaging over all subjects and shapes, the power-law exponents are generally in accordance with constant spatial equi-affine speed. Taken together, our findings provide evidence for the potential role of non-Euclidean geometry in motion planning and control. Moreover, these results seem to imply a relationship between geometry and kinematics that is more complex than the simple local one stipulated by the two-thirds power law and similar models.

Motor planning and control in autism. A kinematic analysis of preschool children

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 834-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Forti ◽  
Angela Valli ◽  
Paolo Perego ◽  
Maria Nobile ◽  
Alessandro Crippa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Kinematic Analysis ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
And Control

Improved production planning and control via low-cost prototype solutions

2002 ◽  
Vol 216 (4) ◽  
pp. 649-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
T B Dawes ◽  
N J Boughton
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Management Information Systems ◽  
Spare Parts ◽  
Order Book ◽  
Management Information ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Reactive Management ◽  
And Control

This paper describes prototype management information systems used to support the transformation of a job-orientated manufacturer into a preferred supplier to the Aerospace Industry. As a jobbing manufacturer the company excelled at reactive management, responding rapidly to short lead-time demands. This approach, however, was inappropriate for the increasingly competitive production of steady state orders (‘runners’) and spare parts orders (‘repeaters’). As a result, the company experienced falling delivery performances and increasing work-in-progress, inventory levels and overtime requirements. Furthermore, there was only a modest understanding of customer requirements due to the poor visibility of the order book. There was also little awareness of internal and supplier capabilities, and the planning and control systems were non-existent, relying heavily on senior management expertise. The company, however, was reluctant to invest in new management information systems, aware of the risk of expensive systems unsuited to the company requirements. Instead, prototype solutions were developed using low-cost and readily available software, which provided the stability and visibility that the company required and formed the basis of a more long-term understanding of planning and control requirements. This paper describes the iterative prototype developments to support the new company infrastructure and quantifies the benefits that were achieved through their introduction.

scholarly journals Anticipatory Motor Planning and Control of Grasp in Children with Unilateral Spastic Cerebral Palsy

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1161
Author(s):  
Jennifer Gutterman ◽  
Trevor Lee-Miller ◽  
Kathleen M. Friel ◽  
Katherine Dimitropoulou ◽  
Andrew M. Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Palsy ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Hand Function ◽  
Precision Grip ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Spastic Cerebral Palsy ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Hemisphere Lesion ◽  
Lift Off ◽  
And Control

Children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (USCP) have impairments in motor planning, impacting their ability to grasp objects. We examined the planning of digit position and force and the flexibility of the motor system in covarying these during object manipulation. Eleven children with a left hemisphere lesion (LHL), nine children with a right hemisphere lesion (RHL) and nine typically developing children (controls) participated in the study. Participants were instructed to use a precision grip with their dominant/less affected hand to lift and keep an object level, with either a left, centered or right center of mass (COM) location. Digit positions, forces, compensatory torque and object roll where measured. Although children with USCP generated a compensatory torque and modulated digit placement by lift-off, their index finger was either collinear or higher than the thumb, regardless of COM location, leading to larger rolls after lift-off especially for the RHL group. The findings suggest that while the kinetics of grasp control is intact, the kinematics of grasp control is impaired. This study adds to the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of anticipatory planning and control of grasp in children with USCP and may provide insights on how to improve hand function in children with USCP.

scholarly journals The evolution of the capacity for language: the ecological context and adaptive value of a process of cognitive hijacking

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1743) ◽  
pp. 20170052 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oren Kolodny ◽  
Shimon Edelman
Keyword(s):  
Gene Networks ◽  
Language Evolution ◽  
Action Planning ◽  
Interdisciplinary Studies ◽  
Ecological Context ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Adaptive Value ◽  
Short Period ◽  
And Control

Language plays a pivotal role in the evolution of human culture, yet the evolution of the capacity for language—uniquely within the hominin lineage—remains little understood. Bringing together insights from cognitive psychology, neuroscience, archaeology and behavioural ecology, we hypothesize that this singular occurrence was triggered by exaptation, or ‘hijacking’, of existing cognitive mechanisms related to sequential processing and motor execution. Observed coupling of the communication system with circuits related to complex action planning and control supports this proposition, but the prehistoric ecological contexts in which this coupling may have occurred and its adaptive value remain elusive. Evolutionary reasoning rules out most existing hypotheses regarding the ecological context of language evolution, which focus on ultimate explanations and ignore proximate mechanisms. Coupling of communication and motor systems, although possible in a short period on evolutionary timescales, required a multi-stepped adaptive process, involving multiple genes and gene networks. We suggest that the behavioural context that exerted the selective pressure to drive these sequential adaptations had to be one in which each of the systems undergoing coupling was independently necessary or highly beneficial, as well as frequent and recurring over evolutionary time. One such context could have been the teaching of tool production or tool use. In the present study, we propose the Cognitive Coupling hypothesis, which brings together these insights and outlines a unifying theory for the evolution of the capacity for language. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bridging cultural gaps: interdisciplinary studies in human cultural evolution’.

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