A comparison of proportional control methods for pattern recognition control

Few studies have focused on proportional control with multi-channel electromyographic (EMG) pattern recognition systems. In a simple proportional control algorithm, movement speed is often calculated by averaging the mean absolute values of all EMG channels. The aim of our study was to compare the performance of two types of pattern recognition control (simple proportional and binary on/off) to direct proportional control. Six EMG channels were collected from non-targeted forearm muscles of four healthy subjects. Subjects were prompted to perform eight medium force isometric repetitions of the following contractions: wrist flexion/extension, wrist pronation/supination, hand open/close, and no movement (rest). Control performances were measured during a one-dimensional position-tracking task using a custom-made graphical user interface. The results show that a simple proportional control algorithm for the pattern recognition system outperformed binary on/off control and was comparable to the performance achieved with direct proportional control.