Department of Computational Biology, Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, Sweden.
Front Neurorobot. 2010 Dec 16;4:112. doi: 10.3389/fnbot.2010.00112. eCollection 2010.
Computer simulation has been used to investigate several aspects of locomotion in salamanders. Here we introduce a three-dimensional forward dynamics mechanical model of a salamander, with physically realistic weight and size parameters. Movements of the four limbs and of the trunk and tail are generated by sets of linearly modeled skeletal muscles. In this study, activation of these muscles were driven by prescribed neural output patterns. The model was successfully used to mimic locomotion on level ground and in water. We compare the walking gait where a wave of activity in the axial muscles travels between the girdles, with the trotting gait in simulations using the musculo-mechanical model. In a separate experiment, the model is used to compare different strategies for turning while stepping; either by bending the trunk or by using side-stepping in the front legs. We found that for turning, the use of side-stepping alone or in combination with trunk bending, was more effective than the use of trunk bending alone. We conclude that the musculo-mechanical model described here together with a proper neural controller is useful for neuro-physiological experiments in silico.
计算机模拟已被用于研究蝾螈运动的几个方面。在这里，我们引入了一个具有物理现实体重和尺寸参数的蝾螈三维前向动力学力学模型。四肢和躯干及尾巴的运动是由一组线性建模的骨骼肌产生的。在这项研究中，这些肌肉的激活是由规定的神经输出模式驱动的。该模型成功地用于模拟在水平地面和水中的运动。我们比较了轴向肌肉活动波在带骨之间传播的行走步态，以及使用肌肉力学模型进行的跑步步态。在一个单独的实验中，该模型用于比较在跨步时通过弯曲躯干或使用前腿侧身跨步来实现转向的不同策略。我们发现，对于转向，单独使用侧身跨步或与躯干弯曲结合使用比仅使用躯干弯曲更有效。我们得出结论，这里描述的肌肉力学模型与适当的神经控制器一起，对于在计算机中的神经生理实验是有用的。
