Predictive algorithms for neuromuscular control of human locomotion

The problem of quantifying muscular activity of the human body can be formulated as an optimal control problem. The current methods used with large-scale biomechanical systems are non-derivative techniques. These methods are costly, as they require numerous integrations of the equations of motion. Additionally, the convergence is slow, making them impractical for use with large systems. We apply an efficient numerical algorithm to the biomechanical optimal control problem. Using direct collocation with a trapezoidal discretization, the equations of motion are converted into a set of algebraic constraint equations. An augmented Lagrangian formulation is used for the optimization problem to handle both equality and inequality constraints. The resulting min-max problem is solved with a generalized Newton method. In contrast to the prevalent optimal control implementations, we calculate analytical first- and second-derivative information and obtain local quadratic convergence. To demonstrate the efficacy of the method, we solve a steady-state pedaling problem with 7 segments and 18 independent muscle groups. The computed muscle activations compare well with experimental EMG data. The computational effort is significantly reduced and solution times are a fraction of those of the non-derivative techniques.