Biodynamic feedthrough is task dependent

Abstract

Vehicle accelerations may lead to involuntary limb motions. These motions can result into involuntary control inputs when performing a manual control task. This phenomenon is called biodynamic feedthrough (BDFT). This paper aims to show that task interpretation plays an important role in the occurrence of BDFT. Results of an experiment are presented, in which biodynamic feedthrough was measured during three different control tasks. Each control task required the human operator to adapt his/her neuromuscular settings. The results show that the level of biodynamic feedthrough depends on the task the human operator is performing. From further analysis, it can be observed that the experiment results are in good agreement with BDFT measurements found in literature. The comparison confirms that the task interpretation plays an important role in BDFT which cannot be ignored when attempting to understand or mitigate BDFT in practical situations

Prediction and Simulator Verification of Roll/Lateral Adverse Aeroservoelastic Rotorcraft–Pilot Couplings

“…For the aeroelastic PAO case, it is recognized that pilot biomechanical responses † † are task dependent (see, for example, [15] for a detailed discussion); later in this work, it is shown that high-gain tasks may reduce the stability margin of the coupled pilot-vehicle system (PVS) about the roll axis. It is well known that high gain tasks can cause rigid-body RPCs, but it is expected that high-gain tasks will also act as PAO triggers.…”

Cancelling biodynamic feedthrough requires a subject and task dependent approach

“…To what extent can a model be generalized across situations and/or subjects? It is known that the biodynamic feedthrough dynamics, amongst other factors, can vary between subjects [11] and the task performed [7]; to what extent does this variability influence the quality of a BDFT model? The current paper investigates these questions: the success of signal cancellation is studied, using different BDFT models, with different levels of generality.…”

“…What makes BDFT particularly challenging is the fact that the human operator -who is by definition involved in biodynamic feedthrough -is an adaptive system, i.e., human operators adapt their neuromuscular system to match the dynamics of the task at hand. We showed in a previous study that biodynamic feedthrough is task dependent and that the human operator can influence the level of BDFT by changing his or her neuromuscular dynamics [7]. As the involuntary control inputs caused by biodynamic feedthrough degrade control accuracy, comfort and safety, several possible solutions to BDFT have been studied in the past decades [8]- [12].…”

Voluntary Pilot Action Through Biodynamics for Helicopter Flight Dynamics Simulation

“…The use of a quasi-steady approximation is justified by the consideration that the dynamics of muscular activation is characterized by relatively high frequencies (time constants between 10 and 40 ms, [34]) compared to the mechanical phenomena under consideration, which occur well below 10 Hz. In [24], a relation between the approximate reflexive activation parameter K p and the task a pilot is performing was established by comparing the results obtained from the numerical model and corresponding experimental results presented by Venrooij et al in [35]. In that experiment, pilots were asked to perform a position task (PT), consisting in keeping the control inceptor in a prescribed position as accurately as possible, resisting forces; a relax task (RT), consisting in loosely keeping the control inceptor about a prescribed position; a force task (FT), consisting in yielding to forces without trying to keep the inceptor in a specific position.…”