Affiliation:
1. Department of Applied Mechanics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics and MTA-BME Lendület Human Balancing Research Group, Budapest, Hungary
Abstract
Human reaction delay significantly limits manual control of unstable systems. It is more difficult to balance a short stick on a fingertip than a long one, because a shorter stick falls faster and therefore requires faster reactions. In this study, a virtual stick balancing environment was developed where the reaction delay can be artificially modulated and the law of motion can be changed between second-order (Newtonian) and first-order (Aristotelian) dynamics. Twenty-four subjects were separated into two groups and asked to perform virtual stick balancing programmed according to either Newtonian or Aristotelian dynamics. The shortest stick length (critical length,
L
c
) was determined for different added delays in six sessions of balancing trials performed on different days. The observed relation between
L
c
and the overall reaction delay
τ
reflected the feature of the underlying mathematical models: (i) for the Newtonian dynamics
L
c
is proportional to
τ
2
; (ii) for the Aristotelian dynamics
L
c
is proportional to
τ
. Deviation of the measured
L
c
(
τ
) function from the theoretical one was larger for the Newtonian dynamics for all sessions, which suggests that, at least in virtually controlled tasks, it is more difficult to adopt second-order dynamics than first-order dynamics.
Funder
Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office
Ministry for Innovation and Technology
Subject
Biomedical Engineering,Biochemistry,Biomaterials,Bioengineering,Biophysics,Biotechnology
Cited by
2 articles.
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