Optimal control predicts human performance on objects with internal degrees of freedom.

On a daily basis, humans interact with a vast range of objects and tools. A class of tasks, which can pose a serious challenge to our motor skills, are those that involve manipulating objects with internal degrees of freedom, such as when folding laundry or using a lasso. Here, we use the framework of optimal feedback control to make predictions of how humans should interact with such objects. We confirm the predictions experimentally in a two-dimensional object manipulation task, in which subjects learned to control six different objects with complex dynamics. We show that the non-intuitive behavior observed when controlling objects with internal degrees of freedom can be accounted for by a simple cost function representing a trade-off between effort and accuracy. In addition to using a simple linear, point-mass optimal control model, we also used an optimal control model, which considers the non-linear dynamics of the human arm. We find that the more realistic optimal control model captures aspects of the data that cannot be accounted for by the linear model or other previous theories of motor control. The results suggest that our everyday interactions with objects can be understood by optimality principles and advocate the use of more realistic optimal control models for the study of human motor neuroscience.

Centrifuge tests investigating inclined grout micro-piles as a method of liquefaction remediation for existing buildings

This paper presents a series of centrifuge tests carried out to investigate the performance of non-structural inclined micro-piles as a potential liquefaction remediation method for existing buildings. Both a single-degree-of-freedom frame structure and a two-storey, two-degree-of-freedom frame structure were used as model buildings in these tests. Centrifuge tests were carried out with and without micro-piles in the foundation soil for each structure. Results primarily from the tests with the SDOF structure are presented in this paper. It is found that the micro-piles have some beneficial effect by increasing shear strains in the soil in their vicinity and hence causing dilation in these zones. However, they also increase structural accelerations by transmitting accelerations from deep in the soil and the beneficial effects from increased dilation are outweighed by the detrimental migration of pore pressures.

Centrifuge modelling of inclined micro-piles for liquefaction remediation of existing buildings

This paper describes four centrifuge tests investigating the performance of non-structural inclined micro-piles as a liquefaction remediation method for existing buildings. Two soil profiles with the same superstructure founded on each were tested under earthquakes of different magnitudes and durations. The first profile consisted of a deep, homogeneous layer of loose, liquefiable sand. The second comprised a shallow layer of loose sand overlying dense sand. Centrifuge tests were carried out with and without inclined micro-piles in each soil profile. The superstructure was modelled as an idealised single degree of freedom (SDOF) system. It is found that the micro-piles have no detrimental effect on the performance of the structure during and after earthquakes. It is also possible that their presence may decrease structural settlements in earthquakes which cause liquefaction to a depth less than that of the improved zone. However, no conclusive evidence is obtained to show that the micro-piles significantly restrain lateral soil movement due to monotonic shearing from the structure or impede the migration of excess pore pressures from the free field to the foundation zone. Both these processes have critical effects on structural settlement. The use of inclined micro-piles for liquefaction remediation should therefore be considered with caution.

Effects of constraint curvature on structural instability: tensile buckling and multiple bifurcations

Bifurcation of an elastic structure crucially depends on the curvature of the constraints against which the ends of the structure are prescribed to move, an effect which deserves more attention than it has received so far. In fact, we show theoretically and we provide definitive experimental verification that an appropriate curvature of the constraint over which the end of a structure has to slide strongly affects buckling loads and can induce: (i.) tensile buckling; (ii.) decreasing- (softening), increasing- (hardening), or constant-load (null stiffness) postcritical behaviour; (iii.) multiple bifurcations, determining for instance two bifurcation loads (one tensile and one compressive) in a single-degree-of-freedom elastic system. We show how to design a constraint profile to obtain a desired postcritical behaviour and we provide the solution for the elastica constrained to slide along a circle on one end, representing the first example of an inflexional elastica developed from a buckling in tension. These results have important practical implications in the design of compliant mechanisms and may find applications in devices operating in quasi-static or dynamic conditions.