ABSTRACT

This chapter provides a mathematical model of event-driven intermittent control. It examines how this model explains some phenomena related to human motion control, and presents some experimental evidence for intermittency. Some new material related to constrained multivariable intermittent control is presented in the context of human standing, and some new material related to adaptive intermittent control is presented in the context of human balance and reaching. The chapter focuses on the system-matched hold, which explicitly generates an open- loop intersample control trajectory based on the underlying continuous-time closed-loop control system. It considers a multi-input multi-output formulation. In contrast to conventional sampleddata control, intermittent control explicitly embeds the underlying continuous-time closed-loop system in a generalized hold. Intermittent control action may be initiated at regular intervals determined by a clock, or at irregular intervals determined by events; an event is typically triggered by an error signal crossing a threshold.