The Predictability of a Target Signal Affects Manual Feedforward Control. Issue 19 (2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Drop, Frank M.; Vries, Rick de; Mulder, Max; Bülthoff, Heinrich H.
• Is Part Of: IFAC-PapersOnLine. Volume 49:Issue 19(2016)
• Page Start: 177
• Page End: 182
• Publication Date: 2016
• Subjects: Cybernetics -- manual control -- feedforward control -- parameter estimation; Automatic control -- Periodicals; 629.805
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ifacol.2016.10.482
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2405-8963

Abstract

Abstract: In the manual control of a dynamic system, the human controller (HC) is often required to follow a visible and predictable reference path. Using the predictable aspect of a reference signal, through applying feedforward control, the HC can significantly improve performance as compared to a purely feedback control strategy. A proper definition of a signal's predictability, however, is never given in literature. This paper investigates the predictability of a sum-of-sinusoids target signal, as a function of the number of sinusoid components and the fact whether the sinusoid frequencies are harmonic, or not. A human-in-the-loop experiment was done, with target signals varying for these two signal characteristics. A combined feedback-feedforward HC model was identified and parameters were estimated. It was found that for all experimental conditions, subjects used a feedforward strategy. Results further showed thatsubjects were able to perform better for harmonic signals as compared to non-harmonic signals, for signals with roughly the same frequency content.