Robotic balance simulator to characterize the adaptability and sensory code underlying the control of standing balance in humans

机器人平衡模拟器，用于表征人类站立平衡控制的适应性和感官代码

• 批准号: RTI-2017-00080
• 负责人: Blouin, JeanSébastien
• 金额: $ 10.89万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=616545
• 关键词: Robotic; balance; simulator; characterize; adaptability

Standing upright is almost effortless. In some ways, our standing balance is like our breathing: both can happen involuntarily, yet we can be aware of our balance and breathing, and take conscious control if needed. The links between our conscious perception of upright posture and its automatic control have been recently questioned. Critical issues have been raised: How do our brain and nervous system adapt to changing postural environments and challenges (e.g. standing on firm ground vs on a stand-up paddle board)? What sensory information does our nervous system use to make adjustments? Are we consciously aware of the signals used by our nervous system to maintain and adapt our balance? The requested equipment will enable us to address these key research questions that could not be answered without it. We will build a one-of-a-kind robotic balance simulator (combined with a non-conductive force platform) that will allow us to test our balance system’s ability to adapt and characterize our perception of these adaptations. We will test this adaptability by breaking the close link between the nervous system’s motor output from its mechanical outcomes. The robotic balance simulator will permit us to explore the limits of our strategies to control balance, and reveal key features of how our brain encodes, decodes and makes use of sensory information to stand upright. In addition, the custom-designed robotic balance simulator will allow us to record activity directly from nerves in awake humans to determine the neural information underlying the control of standing balance. This represents a research frontier that will be enabled by the unique design of the robotic balance simulator. The robotic balance simulator requested in this proposal will accelerate innovative discoveries, allowing our research team to describe the neural information that is involved in standing balance. The novel findings enabled by this unique equipment will foster new modelling avenues for the control of standing in robots designed to mimic humans. The immediate beneficiaries of this work will be researchers and research trainees working in the areas of neuroscience, physiology, balance control, computer science and engineering. These innovations will also benefit clinical researchers and clinicians, informing them about the limits and adaptability of our nervous system in controlling balance and ultimately will paving the way for the development of new balance training and rehabilitation strategies.

站直几乎毫不费力。在某些方面，我们的站立平衡就像我们的呼吸：两者都可以不自觉地发生，但我们可以意识到我们的平衡和呼吸，并在需要时进行有意识的控制。我们对直立姿势的有意识感知和它的自动控制之间的联系最近受到了质疑。关键问题已经提出：我们的大脑和神经系统如何适应不断变化的姿势环境和挑战（例如，站在坚实的地面上与站在直立的桨板上）？我们的神经系统使用什么感觉信息来进行调整？我们是否有意识地意识到我们的神经系统用来维持和适应我们的平衡的信号？ 所要求的设备将使我们能够解决这些关键的研究问题，没有它就无法回答。我们将建立一个独一无二的机器人平衡模拟器（结合非导电力平台），使我们能够测试我们的平衡系统的适应能力，并描述我们对这些适应的感知。我们将通过打破神经系统的运动输出与其机械输出之间的密切联系来测试这种适应性。机器人平衡模拟器将允许我们探索我们控制平衡的策略的局限性，并揭示我们的大脑如何编码，解码和利用感官信息直立的关键特征。此外，定制设计的机器人平衡模拟器将允许我们直接记录清醒人类神经的活动，以确定控制站立平衡的神经信息。这代表了一个研究前沿，将通过机器人平衡模拟器的独特设计实现。 本提案中要求的机器人平衡模拟器将加速创新发现，使我们的研究团队能够描述与站立平衡有关的神经信息。这种独特的设备所带来的新发现将为控制模仿人类的机器人的站立提供新的建模途径。这项工作的直接受益者将是在神经科学、生理学、平衡控制、计算机科学和工程领域工作的研究人员和研究受训人员。这些创新也将使临床研究人员和临床医生受益，让他们了解我们的神经系统在控制平衡方面的局限性和适应性，并最终为开发新的平衡训练和康复策略铺平道路。