Biologically inspired optimal robot arm control with signal-dependent noise

Progress in the field of humanoid robotics and the need to find simpler ways to program such robots has prompted research into computational models for robotic learning from human demonstration. To further investigate biologically inspired human-like robotic movement and imitation, we have constructed a framework based on three key features of human movement and planning: optimality, modularity and learning. In this paper we focus on the application of optimality principles to the production of human-like movement by a robot arm. Among computational theories of human movement, the signal-dependent noise, or minimum variance, model was chosen as a biologically realistic control scheme to produce human-like movement. A well known optimal control algorithm, the linear quadratic regulator, was adapted to implement this model. The scheme was applied both in simulation and on a real robot arm, which demonstrated human-like movement profiles in a point-to-point reaching experiment.