Implicit Upper-Limb Prosthesis Control from Compensatory Body Motions

Notwithstanding recent progress in the control of prosthetic limbs, the independent control of a multiplicity of joints, such as in pluriarticulated proximal upper-limb amputations, remains complex and tiresome to users. As an alternative or an addition to classical myoelectric control, few studies have indicated the possibility of measuring compensatory motions of residual limbs of users for controlling their prostheses. In this paper, we introduce an algorithm that generalizes this idea, allows to interpret residual limb motions as encoding the user’s intention of motion, and translate it into prosthesis control to achieve a desired reaching task. We validate this approach in simulation for a transhumeral subject, and experimentally demonstrating the control of a 5-DoF robotic arm via human motions tracked by Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) sensors.