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Musculoskeletal Modeling and Control of the Lower Limb in Cycling Using an Optimal Central Pattern Generator

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Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Mechanical Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Musculoskeletal modeling of human motions such as cycling can help rehabilitation experts design and develop more effective therapy procedures. In the current study, a musculoskeletal model for the lower limb of cyclists is developed and controlled by designing a CPG network. EMG sensors were attached to the leg of five persons with different physical conditions, including professional and amateur cyclists, to record six muscles’ activities. Also, the joints’ trajectories have been measured. The skeletal dynamics of the skeleton of the lower limb are modeled using Lagrangian mechanics, and Hill’s modified nonlinear model is used for modeling the muscles. Central pattern generators are responsible for producing rhythmic motions in the human body, so to simulate and control the musculoskeletal model, a six-neuron CPG network is proposed and optimized by genetic algorithm. Simulations results show the RMSEs in tracking the joint trajectories as 0.0461, 0.0609, 0.1495, respectively, for the hip, the knee, and the ankle joint. The RMSEs for the VM, GT, BF, VL, TA and RF muscles are resulted as 0.0204, 0.0104, 0.0326, 0.0198, 0.0622, 0.002. Results show the good performance of the CPG as the controller of the central nervous system and also qualify this framework to be used in future studies.

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Abbreviations

F, S, T:

Links: Thigh, Leg, Forefoot

A, K, H:

Joints: Hip, Knee, Ankle

CF, CS, CT :

Centers of mass

d S, d F, d T :

Distances of the mass centers from the respective joints

L F, L S, L T :

Lengths

m F, m S, m T :

Masses

I F, I S, I T :

Moments of inertia about the normal axis at the mass center

g :

Gravitational acceleration

F X, F Y :

Components of the pedal reaction force

M A, M K, M H :

Joint torques

θ F, θ S, θ T :

Link angles

θ C :

Pedal angle

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

    Seyyed Arash Haghpanah, Seyyed Ehsan Zolfaghari & Mojtaba Mahzoon

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Navid Eqra

  3. Department of Sports Sciences, School of Education and Psychology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

    Fereshteh Eftekhari

Authors
  1. Seyyed Arash Haghpanah
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  2. Seyyed Ehsan Zolfaghari
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  3. Navid Eqra
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  4. Mojtaba Mahzoon
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  5. Fereshteh Eftekhari
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Correspondence to Seyyed Arash Haghpanah.

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Haghpanah, S.A., Zolfaghari, S.E., Eqra, N. et al. Musculoskeletal Modeling and Control of the Lower Limb in Cycling Using an Optimal Central Pattern Generator. Iran J Sci Technol Trans Mech Eng 47, 1121–1130 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40997-022-00566-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40997-022-00566-1

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