Human skill performance to control an underactuated pendulum-driven capsule system

This paper investigates human learning and skill performance to control an underactuated pendulum-driven capsule system within an interactive virtual simulation environment. A number of experiments is conducted with 9 participants who learned to control the capsule using a physical joystick. The results show differences in learning and skill performance among the participants. Right-handed and lefthanded participants achieve their highest trial on the opposite side of their handedness. The high learners tend to achieve great final performance whereas the moderate learners produce stable low or moderate performance. The variance of the displacements achieved appears to be a learning indicator while the high frequency of joystick oscillation at the right portion and interval gives high performance results.