Control Signal (control + signal)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Engineering


Selected Abstracts


Behavioral discrimination of sexually dimorphic calls by male zebra finches requires an intact vocal motor pathway

DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2001
David S. Vicario
Abstract Vocal communication between zebra finches includes the exchange of long calls (LCs) as well as song. By using this natural call behavior and quantifying the LCs emitted in response to playbacks of LCs of other birds, we have previously shown that adult male zebra finches have a categorical preference for the LCs of females over those of males. Female LCs are acoustically simpler than male LCs, which include complex acoustic features that are learned during development. Production of these male-typical features requires an intact nucleus RA, the sexually dimorphic source of the main telencephalic projection to brainstem vocal effectors. We have now made bilateral lesions of RA in 17 adult males and tested their discrimination behavior in the call response situation. Lesioned birds continue to call, but lose the male-typical preference for female LCs. The degree of loss is correlated with the extent of RA damage. Further, the simplified LCs of males with RA lesions have a variable duration that is correlated with stimulus features. In effect, the call response behavior of lesioned males becomes like that of females. Apparently, in the absence of RA, the remaining intact structures receive different call information than RA normally does, and/or process it differently. This suggests that the vocal motor nucleus RA could play a role in the transformation of a signal encoding the salience of stimulus parameters into a control signal that modulates the probability and strength of responding. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Neurobiol 47: 109,120, 2001 [source]


Robust active vibration suppression control with constraint on the control signal: application to flexible structures

EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS, Issue 11 2003
A. Forrai
Abstract A unified mathematical framework, sustained by experimental results, is presented for robust controller design taking into account the constraint on the control signal. The design procedure is exemplified for an active vibration suppression control problem with applications to flexible structures. The considered experimental set-up is a three-storey flexible structure with an active mass driver placed on the last storey. First, the considered flexible structure is identified and the model's parametric uncertainties are deduced. Next, control constraints are presented for the robust control design problem, taking into account the restriction imposed on the control signal. Finally, the effectiveness of the control system is tested through experiments, when the input disturbance is assumed to be a sinusoidal one as well as a historical earthquake record (1940 El Centro record). Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Long-span seek control system for hard disk drive without mode-switching

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING IN JAPAN, Issue 3 2010
Shinji Takakura
Abstract In hard disk drives (HDD) there are two control modes: the head positioning control mode and the other is the seek control mode. In the head positioning control mode, a feedback controller is optimally designed to suppress disturbances. In the long-span seek mode, a velocity feedback control system is applied in order to move the heads fast. Thus, an HDD has multiple control systems, and the head is moved to the target position while changing from one control system to the other. However, changing the control system causes a discontinuous control signal, which activates the resonant mode of an actuator. Past methods can only decrease discontinuous control, and therefore a single control system that can be used for both a seek control mode and a head positioning control mode is necessary for a narrow track pitch. In the proposed method, the feedback controller is decomposed into an integrator and a phase compensator. The VCM model is updated by the output of the phase compensator, and the integrator and the output of the velocity feedback controller control the VCM. The validity of the proposed method was confirmed by numerical and experimental results using a miniature 2.5-inch hard disk drive. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 171(3): 51,60, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.20935 [source]


Covert attention allows for continuous control of brain,computer interfaces

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 8 2010
Ali Bahramisharif
Abstract While brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) can be used for controlling external devices, they also hold the promise of providing a new tool for studying the working brain. In this study we investigated whether modulations of brain activity by changes in covert attention can be used as a continuous control signal for BCI. Covert attention is the act of mentally focusing on a peripheral sensory stimulus without changing gaze direction. The ongoing brain activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography in subjects as they covertly attended to a moving cue while maintaining fixation. Based on posterior alpha power alone, the direction to which subjects were attending could be recovered using circular regression. Results show that the angle of attention could be predicted with a mean absolute deviation of 51° in our best subject. Averaged over subjects, the mean deviation was ,70°. In terms of information transfer rate, the optimal data length used for recovering the direction of attention was found to be 1700 ms; this resulted in a mean absolute deviation of 60° for the best subject. The results were obtained without any subject-specific feature selection and did not require prior subject training. Our findings demonstrate that modulations of posterior alpha activity due to the direction of covert attention has potential as a control signal for continuous control in a BCI setting. Our approach will have several applications, including a brain-controlled computer mouse and improved methods for neuro-feedback that allow direct training of subjects' ability to modulate posterior alpha activity. [source]


Adaptive control for nonlinear uncertain systems with actuator amplitude and rate saturation constraints

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADAPTIVE CONTROL AND SIGNAL PROCESSING, Issue 1 2009
Alexander Leonessa
Abstract A direct adaptive nonlinear tracking control framework for multivariable nonlinear uncertain systems with actuator amplitude and rate saturation constraints is developed. To guarantee asymptotic stability of the closed-loop tracking error dynamics in the face of amplitude and rate saturation constraints, the control signal to a given reference (governor or supervisor) system is modified to effectively robustify the error dynamics to the saturation constraints. Illustrative numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


A novel discrete-time sliding mode technique and its application to a HDD dual-stage track-seek and track-following servo system

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADAPTIVE CONTROL AND SIGNAL PROCESSING, Issue 4 2008
G. Herrmann
Abstract A novel approach for the design of a discrete-time sliding mode controller is presented showing that the dynamics of a sliding-mode state-feedback controller can be designed using a singular LQR approach. The weighting of the control signal is set to zero and dead-beat behaviour for the sliding mode reaching dynamics is achieved. The reaching dynamics are modified when the states are a significant distance away from the sliding surface to avoid any high magnitude control action due to the partial dead-beat approach. The control law also takes into account the constraints on the actuator amplitudes and a stability analysis is presented using a discrete-time version of the Popov criterion. The control approach is demonstrated in conjunction with a recently developed large-span track-seeking and track-following method for dual-stage actuator systems in a hard disk drive (HDD). It is shown how the discrete-time sliding mode control scheme can be incorporated into the observer-based control system for the secondary actuator. Superior performance for the track-seeking and track-settling process is demonstrated using an existing practical set-up of a dual-stage HDD servo system. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Online trained support vector machines-based generalized predictive control of non-linear systems

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADAPTIVE CONTROL AND SIGNAL PROCESSING, Issue 10 2006
S. Iplikci
Abstract In this work, an online support vector machines (SVM) training method (Neural Comput. 2003; 15: 2683,2703), referred to as the accurate online support vector regression (AOSVR) algorithm, is embedded in the previously proposed support vector machines-based generalized predictive control (SVM-Based GPC) architecture (Support vector machines based generalized predictive control, under review), thereby obtaining a powerful scheme for controlling non-linear systems adaptively. Starting with an initially empty SVM model of the unknown plant, the proposed online SVM-based GPC method performs the modelling and control tasks simultaneously. At each iteration, if the SVM model is not accurate enough to represent the plant dynamics at the current operating point, it is updated with the training data formed by persistently exciting random input signal applied to the plant, otherwise, if the model is accepted as accurate, a generalized predictive control signal based on the obtained SVM model is applied to the plant. After a short transient time, the model can satisfactorily reflect the behaviour of the plant in the whole phase space or operation region. The incremental algorithm of AOSVR enables the SVM model to learn the new training data pair, while the decremental algorithm allows the SVM model to forget the oldest training point. Thus, the SVM model can adapt the changes in the plant and also in the operating conditions. The simulation results on non-linear systems have revealed that the proposed method provides an excellent control quality. Furthermore, it maintains its performance when a measurement noise is added to the output of the underlying system. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Rejection of periodic disturbances of unknown and time-varying frequency

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADAPTIVE CONTROL AND SIGNAL PROCESSING, Issue 2-3 2005
Marc Bodson
Abstract The paper reviews available methods for the rejection of periodic disturbances. Such disturbances are often encountered in active noise and vibration control, due to rotating machinery. The emphasis of the paper is on feedback control problems where reference sensors are not available. The case where the frequency of the disturbance is known is considered first. Two sets of algorithms are discussed: one based on the internal model principle of feedback control theory, and the second based on adaptive feedforward cancellation. An interesting observation is that algorithms originating from both approaches can be shown to be equivalent under certain conditions. When the frequency of the disturbance is unknown, an intuitive approach consists in combining a method for the rejection of disturbances of known frequency with a frequency estimator. Alternatively, one may seek to develop a stable adaptation mechanism so that the disturbance is cancelled asymptotically. While algorithms can be designed to adapt to plant and disturbance parameters, the most successful approaches use some limited plant information to adapt the magnitude, frequency, and phase parameters of the control signal. Applications are discussed throughout the paper. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Near optimal LQR performance for uncertain first order systems

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADAPTIVE CONTROL AND SIGNAL PROCESSING, Issue 4 2004
L. Luo
Abstract In adaptive control, the objective is to provide stability and acceptable performance in the face of significant plant uncertainty. However, often there are large transients in the plant output and the control signal can become excessively large. Here, we consider the first order case with the plant parameters restricted to a compact set; we show how to design a (linear time-varying) adaptive controller which provides near optimal LQR performance. This controller is periodic with each period split into two parts: during the Estimation Phase, an estimate of the optimal control signal is formed; during the Control Phase, a suitably scaled estimate of this signal is applied to the system. We demonstrate the technique with a simulation and discuss the benefits and limitations of the approach. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Output feedback stabilization of constrained systems with nonlinear predictive control

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBUST AND NONLINEAR CONTROL, Issue 3-4 2003
Rolf Findeisen
Abstract We present an output feedback stabilization scheme for uniformly completely observable nonlinear MIMO systems combining nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) and high-gain observers. The control signal is recalculated at discrete sampling instants by an NMPC controller using a system model for the predictions. The state information necessary for the prediction is provided by a continuous time high-gain observer. The resulting ,optimal' control signal is open-loop implemented until the next sampling instant. With the proposed scheme semi-global practical stability is achieved. That is, for initial conditions in any compact set contained in the region of attraction of the NMPC state feedback controller, the system states will enter any small set containing the origin, if the high-gain observers is sufficiently fast and the sampling time is small enough. In principle the proposed approach can be used for a variety of state feedback NMPC schemes. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Robustness improvement of a nonlinear H, controller for robot manipulators via saturation functions

JOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 8 2005
Manuel G. Ortega
In this paper, previous works on nonlinear H, control for robot manipulators are extended. In particular, integral terms are considered to cope with persistent disturbances, such as constant load at the end-effector. The extended controller may be understood as a computed-torque control with an external PID, whose gain matrices vary with the position and velocity of the robot joints. In addition, in order to increase the controller robustness, an extension of the algorithms with saturation functions has been carried out. This extension deals with the resulting nonlinear equation of the closed-loop error. A modified expression for the required increment in the control signal is provided, and the local closed-loop stability of this approach is discussed. Finally, simulation results for a two-link robot and experimental results for an industrial robot are presented. The results obtained with this technique have been compared with those attained with the original controllers to show the improvements achieved by means of the proposed method. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


Feasibility of Using Peroneal Nerve Recordings for Deriving Stimulation Timing in a Foot Drop Correction System

NEUROMODULATION, Issue 1 2003
Morten Hansen
Abstract The objective of this research was to demonstrate the potential of using peroneal nerve activity to derive timing control for stimulation in foot drop correction and to attempt recording and stimulation through the same electrode. Two subjects were implanted with cuff electrodes on the peroneal nerve. An input domain was derived from the recorded electroneurogram (ENG) and fed to a detection algorithm based on an Adaptive Logic Network (ALN) for predicting stimulation timing. A switching circuit was furthermore built for switching between stimulator and recorder for combined use of the cuff electrode. The detection was successful, but the accuracy depended on the signal to noise ratio of the recorded ENG. The switching circuit successfully allowed for simultaneous recording and stimulation through the same cuff electrode. We conclude that the peroneal nerve can potentially be used to record sensory information for derivation of a stimulator control signal in a foot drop application, while at the same time being stimulated to activate foot dorsiflexors. [source]


Real Time Foot Drop Correction using Machine Learning and Natural Sensors

NEUROMODULATION, Issue 1 2002
Morten Hansen MScEE
Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate and test a real time system implemented for Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) assisted foot drop correction, deriving control timing from signals recorded from a peripheral sensory nerve. A hemiplegic participant was attached with a cuff electrode on the sural nerve connected to a telemetry controlled implanted neural amplifier, and a stimulation cuff electrode on the peroneal nerve connected to an implanted stimulator. An input domain was derived from the recorded electroneurogram (ENG) and fed to a detection algorithm based on an Adaptive Logic Network (ALN) for controlling the timing of the peroneal stimulation. The detection system was tested in real time over a period of 392 days, covering a variety of walking tasks. The detection system's ability to detect heel strike and foot lift without errors and to detect the difference between walking and standing proved to be stable for the duration of the study. We conclude that using ALNs and natural sensors provide a stable and accurate control signal for FES foot drop correction. [source]


Chattering reduction of sliding mode control by low-pass filtering the control signal

ASIAN JOURNAL OF CONTROL, Issue 3 2010
Ming-Lei Tseng
Abstract The conventional approach to reducing control signal chattering in sliding mode control is to use the boundary layer design. However, when there is high-level measurement noise, the boundary layer design becomes ineffective in chattering reduction. This paper, therefore, proposes a new design for chattering reduction by low-pass filtering the control signal. The new design is non-trivial since it requires estimation of the sliding variable via a disturbance estimator. The new sliding mode control has the same performance as the boundary layer design in noise-free environments, and outperforms the boundary layer design in noisy environments. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society [source]


SECOND-ORDER TERMINAL SLIDING MODE CONTROL OF INPUT-DELAY SYSTEMS

ASIAN JOURNAL OF CONTROL, Issue 1 2006
Yong Feng
ABSTRACT This paper proposes a second-order terminal sliding mode control for a class of uncertain input-delay systems. The input-delay systems are firstly converted into the input-delay free systems and further converted into the regular forms. A linear sliding mode manifold is predesigned to represent the ideal dynamics of the system. Another terminal sliding mode manifold surface is presented to drive the linear sliding mode to reach zeros in finite time. In order to eliminate the chattering phenomena, a second-order sliding mode method is utilized to filter the high frequency switching control signal. The uncertainties of the systems are analysed in detail to show the effect to the systems. The simulation results validate the method presented in the paper. [source]


PID-Augmented Adaptive Control of a Gyro Mirror Los System

ASIAN JOURNAL OF CONTROL, Issue 2 2002
K.K. Tan
ABSTRACT In this paper, a composite control scheme using a synergy of PID and adaptive control is proposed. The adaptive control component provides an adaptive feedforward control signal, while the PID component provides feedback control for robustness against modeling errors in the feedforward control design. The PID control can be automatically tuned using a relay. The control scheme developed is relevant to a large class of nonlinear servo-mechanical systems, although in this paper, it is specifically implemented and demonstrated on a gyro mirror line-of-sight (LOS) system. [source]


SINGULARITY COMPUTATION FOR ITERATIVE CONTROL OF NONLINEAR AFFINE SYSTEMS

ASIAN JOURNAL OF CONTROL, Issue 2 2000
Dan O. Popa
ABSTRACT This paper considers a gradient type of iterative algorithm applied to the open loop control for nonlinear affine systems. The convergence of the algorithm relies on the control signal in each iteration be nonsingular. We present an algorithm for computing the singular control for a general class of nonlinear affine systems. Various nonlinear mechanical systems, including nonholonomic systems, are included as examples. [source]


The strength of anticipatory spatial biasing predicts target discrimination at attended locations: a high-density EEG study

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 11 2009
Simon P. Kelly
Abstract Cueing relevant spatial locations in advance of a visual target results in modulated processing of that target as a consequence of anticipatory attentional deployment, the neural signatures of which remain to be fully elucidated. A set of electrophysiological processes has been established as candidate markers of the invocation and maintenance of attentional bias in humans. These include spatially-selective event-related potential (ERP) components over the lateral parietal (around 200,300 ms post-cue), frontal (300,500 ms) and ventral visual (> 500 ms) cortex, as well as oscillatory amplitude changes in the alpha band (8,14 Hz). Here, we interrogated the roles played by these anticipatory processes in attentional orienting by testing for links with subsequent behavioral performance. We found that both target discriminability (d') and reaction times were significantly predicted on a trial-by-trial basis by lateralization of alpha-band amplitude in the 500 ms preceding the target, with improved speed and accuracy resulting from a greater relative decrease in alpha over the contralateral visual cortex. Reaction time was also predicted by a late posterior contralateral positivity in the broad-band ERP in the same time period, but this did not influence d'. In a further analysis we sought to identify the control signals involved in generating the anticipatory bias, by testing earlier broad-band ERP amplitude for covariation with alpha lateralization. We found that stronger alpha biasing was associated with a greater bilateral frontal positivity at ,390 ms but not with differential amplitude across hemispheres in any time period. Thus, during the establishment of an anticipatory spatial bias, while the expected target location is strongly encoded in lateralized activity in parietal and frontal areas, a distinct non-spatial control process seems to regulate the strength of the bias. [source]


Maintaining the power balance in an ,empty network'

EUROPEAN TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL POWER, Issue 5 2006
M. Reza
Abstract This paper presents the concept of an ,empty network' and shows how the power balance can be maintained in such a system. In this study, an ,empty network' is defined as a power system in which no rotating mass is present; all generators are grid-connected via power electronic interfaces. One generator creates a neat 50,Hz voltage that serves as a frequency reference for the other generators. Consequently, a power unbalance cannot be detected in the classical way, as an altered system frequency. Therefore, in this paper, voltage deviations are used to detect the power unbalances. Simple test systems that consist of 1, 2 and 3 buses are applied on a real time digital simulator (RTDS). A load jump is simulated to cause a power unbalance in the system. The study shows that by using voltage deviations as control signals, the power balance can be maintained in an empty network. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Neural Interface Biomaterials: Multifunctional Nanobiomaterials for Neural Interfaces (Adv. Funct.

ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 4 2009
Mater.
Neural electrodes are designed to interface with the nervous system and provide control signals for neural prostheses. However, robust and reliable chronic recording and stimulation remains a challenge for neural electrodes. On page 573, Mohammad Reza Abidian and David Martin report a novel method for the fabrication of soft, low impedance, high charge density, and controlled releasing nanobiomaterials that can be applied for neural interfaces using drug loaded nanofibers, 3D conducting polymer nanostructures (PEDOT), and alginate hydrogel. [source]


Multifunctional Nanobiomaterials for Neural Interfaces

ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 4 2009
Mohammad Reza Abidian
Abstract Neural electrodes are designed to interface with the nervous system and provide control signals for neural prostheses. However, robust and reliable chronic recording and stimulation remains a challenge for neural electrodes. Here, a novel method for the fabrication of soft, low impedance, high charge density, and controlled releasing nanobiomaterials that can be used for the surface modification of neural microelectrodes to stabilize the electrode/tissue interface is reported. The fabrication process includes electrospinning of anti-inflammatory drug-incorporated biodegradable nanofibers, encapsulation of these nanofibers by an alginate hydrogel layer, followed by electrochemical polymerization of conducting polymers around the electrospun drug-loaded nanofibers to form nanotubes and within the alginate hydrogel scaffold to form cloud-like nanostructures. The three-dimensional conducting polymer nanostructures significantly decrease the electrode impedance and increase the charge capacity density. Dexamethasone release profiles show that the alginate hydrogel coating slows down the release of the drug, significantly reducing the burst effect. These multifunctional materials are expected to be of interest for a variety of electrode/tissue interfaces in biomedical devices. [source]


Adaptive robust force control for vehicle active suspensions

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADAPTIVE CONTROL AND SIGNAL PROCESSING, Issue 2 2004
Supavut Chantranuwathana
Abstract In this paper, the modular adaptive robust control (MARC) technique is applied to design the force loop controller of an electro-hydraulic active suspension system. A key advantage of this modular design approach lies in the fact that the adaptation algorithm can be designed for explicit estimation convergence. The effect of parameter adaptation on force tracking performance can be compensated and thus it is possible to guaranteed certain control performance. Experimental results from a quarter-car active suspension test rig show that when realistic external disturbances and measurement noises exist, the modular design achieves a better estimate than the non-modular ARC design. The improved estimation was found to result in control signals with slightly lower magnitude while maintaining similar tracking performance. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Adaptive critic design using non-linear network structures

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADAPTIVE CONTROL AND SIGNAL PROCESSING, Issue 6 2003
Ognjen Kuljaca
Abstract A neural net (NN)/fuzzy logic (FL) adaptive critic controller is described. This structure takes advantage of the decision-making properties of a FL system to critique and tune a NN action-generating network. The stability of the proposed structure is proven. NN and fuzzy weight tuning algorithms are given that do not require complicated initialization procedures or any off-line learning phase. Tracking and bounded NN weights and control signals are guaranteed. The adaptive fuzzy critic controller given here is a model-free controller' in the sense that it works for any system in a prescribed class without the need for extensive modeling and preliminary analysis to find a regression matrix'. There is no linearity in the parameter (LIP) requirement. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Some new algebraic criteria for chaos synchronization of Chua's circuits by linear state error feedback control

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CIRCUIT THEORY AND APPLICATIONS, Issue 3 2006
Xiaofeng Wu
Abstract The research on the sufficient criterion for chaos synchronization of the master,slave Chua's circuits by linear state error feedback control has received much attention and some synchronization criteria for special control matrix were proposed. In this paper, the above synchronization issue is investigated in the situation of general linear state error feedback controller with propagation delay of control signals from the master Chua's circuit. First of all, a master,slave synchronization scheme for Chua's circuits with propagation delay is given and the relevant error system is derived. Using a quadratic Lyapunov function and frequency domain method, three new algebraic synchronization criteria for the synchronization scheme with general control matrix are proven. They are applied to derive the synchronization criteria for simple control matrices. Some examples are given to show the sharpness of these new criteria compared with the known criteria. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Integrated fault detection and control for LPV systems

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBUST AND NONLINEAR CONTROL, Issue 3 2009
Heng Wang
Abstract This paper studies the integrated fault detection and control problem for linear parameter-varying systems. A parameter-dependent detector/controller is designed to generate two signals: residual and control signals that are used to detect faults and simultaneously meet some control objectives. The low-frequency faults and certain finite-frequency disturbances are considered. With the aid of the newly developed linearization techniques, the design methods are presented in terms of solutions to a set of linear matrix inequalities. A numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Bio-mimetic trajectory generation using a neural time-base generator

JOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 11 2005
Yoshiyuki Tanaka
This paper presents a neural time-base generator (TBG) that can generate a family of neural control signals with a controllable finite duration and bell-shaped velocity profile. Then, a bio-mimetic trajectory generation method using the neural TBG model is explained. Using the proposed model, the generation ability of human-like trajectories is examined through comparisons between computer simulations and human arm trajectories during reaching movements according to the curvature of constrained trajectories. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]