We are developing an innovative approach to the control of robotic-assisted rehabilitation and other assistive devices.

We are interested in the effect of feedback on the rate and extent of motor skill learning and adaptation.  Our intent is to apply the results of our investigations to the design of a more effective strategy for the rehabilitation of recovering stroke patients.

As yet underdeveloped is the psychology of human learning as it pertains to manual control tasks in fully dynamic, multi-degree-of-freedom domains. While we currently possess the capacity to teach these tasks, we are unable to predict how well people will do in these domains or how rapidly they will learn.

Our goals in this research project are to determine the significance of performance of inanimate tasks as a marker for robotic proficiency and assess the utility of inanimate task training on robotic skill performance.  We aim to establish standardized tasks for training, define accurate metrics for performance, and assess motor skill acquisition in virtual and real environments.

It has been reported in the literature that the smoothness of human subjects' arm/hand movements vanishes as the movements become slower. Intermittencies in the movement are observed as distinct peaks in the speed profile. Doeringer and Hogan (1998) proposed two possibilities for the origin of intermittency in slow movements: (1) noise in neuromuscular circuitry, and (2) a movement planner that can only construct simple movements. They showed that the intermittency can not be due to noise or delays in visual feedback.