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Stretch reflex improves rolling stability during hopping of a decerebrate biped system.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Repository DOI


Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Rosendo, Andre 
Liu, Xiangxiao 
Shimizu, Masahiro 
Hosoda, Koh 

Abstract

When humans hop, attitude recovery can be observed in both the sagittal and frontal planes. While it is agreed that the brain plays an important role in leg placement, the role of low-level feedback (the stretch reflex) on frontal plane stabilization remains unclear. Seeking to better understand the contribution of the soleus stretch reflex to rolling stability, we performed experiments on a biomimetic humanoid hopping robot. Various reflex responses to touching the floor, ranging from no response to long muscle activations, were examined, and the effect of a delay upon touching the floor was also examined. We found that the stretch reflex brought the system closer to stable, straight hopping. The presence of a delay did not affect the results; both the cases with and without a delay outperformed the case without a reflex response. The results of this study highlight the importance of low-level control in locomotion for which body stabilization does not require higher-level signals.

Description

Keywords

Biomimetics, Decerebrate State, Equipment Design, Equipment Failure Analysis, Feedback, Feedback, Physiological, Gait, Humans, Muscle Contraction, Muscle, Skeletal, Postural Balance, Reflex, Stretch, Robotics, Task Performance and Analysis

Journal Title

Bioinspir Biomim

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1748-3182
1748-3190

Volume Title

10

Publisher

IOP Publishing