Influence of intermittency and synergy on grasping

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Motor Control
• Robotics

Background:

• Critically evaluates Smeets and Brenner's kinematic trajectory formulation for human movement.
• Addresses challenges from rival torque-change formulations by incorporating intermittency in motor control.
• Examines optimization criteria for trajectory planning, contrasting minimum acceleration with minimum jerk.

Discussion:

• Argues for minimum acceleration as a more suitable optimization criterion than minimum jerk for trajectory planning.
• Introduces the concept of optimized trajectories within a task-dependent coordinate space.
• Integrates synergy generation with optimized trajectories to enhance computational efficiency.

Key Insights:

• Human movement control benefits from considering intermittency, supporting kinematic trajectory choices.
• Minimum acceleration offers advantages over minimum jerk for optimizing movement trajectories.
• A novel formulation reduces computational demands for planning individual digit movements.

Outlook:

• Potential for improved robotic control systems by applying optimized trajectory principles.
• Further research into the role of intermittency in complex motor tasks.
• Integration of synergistic control strategies for more efficient movement planning.