290
IEEE TRANSACTIONS AC-29,NO. 4, APRIL 1984
The Control of a Prosthetic Arm by
EMG Pattern Recognition
Abstract -An electromyographic (EMG) signal pattern recognition sys-
tem is constructed for real-lime controlof a prostheticarm through precise
identificationof motion and speed command.
A probabiistic modelofthe EMG patterns is f i i formulatedinthe
featurespace of integralabsolute d u e (IAV) to describetherelation
betweena command,represented by motionand speed variables,and
location and shape of the corresponding pattern. The model provides the
sample probability density function of pattern classes in the decision space
of varianceandzero crossings based on therelations between L4V,
variance, and zero crossings established in this paper.
Patternclassification is carried out through amulticlasssequential
decision procedure designed with an emphasis on computational simplicity.
The upper bound of probability of error and the average number of sample
observationsareinvestigated. Speed andmotionpredictionsareusedin
conjunctionwiththe decision proceduretoenhance decision speed and
reliability.
A decomposition ruleis famulated for the direct assignment of speed to
each primitive motion involved ina combined motion..4 learning procedure
is also designedforthedecisionprocessorto adaptlong-termpattern
variation.
Experimental results are discussed in the Appendix.
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE electromyographc (EMG) signals are the electric mani-
festation of neuromuscular activation associated with con-
tracting muscles. They can be conveniently and safely measured
at the surface of the skin near the appropriate musclesbythe
surface electrode.
It has beenproposed that the EMG signals canbeused to
identify motion commandfor the controlof an externally powered
prosthesis, based on the factthat synergistic signals canbe
obtained fromthe intact musculature of an amputee.Butthe
extreme compIexities involved in the EMG signals make it dif-
ficult to have a precise structural or mathematical model which
relates the measured signals with a motion command [l], [2].
Threemajorapproacheshavebeensuggested to solvethe
motion command identification problem. The first, based on the
works of Graupe et al. [3], [4], models the EMG signals as a
stationary time series ( A R model), and the model parameters for
each of the prespecilied motion classes are identified to form a
reference parameter set. The measured EMG signals are classified
into one of several prespecified motion classes, either by parame-
ter vector space methods or parallel filtering methods. The sec-
ond, based on the works of Wirta et ai. [ 5 ] , uses many electrode
sites to form a pattern which represents the spatial distribution of
the time integrated value of the EMG signals. A linear discrimi-
ManuscriptreceivedMarch18,1982; raised March4.1983.Paper
recommendedby A. K. Bejczy,PastChairman of the Automation and
Robotics Committee.
The authorsare with theDepartment of Electrical.Computer.and
Systems Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Troy. NY 12181.
0018-9286/84/0400-0290~01.00 01984 IEEE
ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL, VOL.
nant function is designed for the classification by proper assign-
ment of weighting coefficients and summationthreshold. The
third, based on the works of Saridis et a / . [6], [7], forms patterns
of prespecifiedmotionclasses in thefeaturespace of variance
and zero crossings, wherethe EMG signal variance and zero
crossing are selected as thebestfeaturesubset in thesense of
class separability by thefeaturesubset selection procedure. A
learning linear classifier isdesigned to investigate theupper
bound of misclassification for each pairwise classification of27
motion classes.
Some other important works on prosthetic arm control are the
reflexive and trajectory control by Lyman et a/. and Freedy et ai.
[8]. [9], thetask classification byLawrence et ai. [lo], and the
shoulder torque analysis by Jacobsen et a/. [ll]. Also, many of
theaspectsrequired for the practical success of theprosthetic
arm research are well described by Jacobsen et a/. [21].
Although previous work has brought some sort of theoretical
and practical achievements for the control of a prosthetic arm,
further advancement, such as the accurate identification of mo-
tion and speed command from the EMG signals and the design
of a faster and more reliable command identification procedure,
enough to be processed within the limitation of time and error
rate, is required to achieve an ultimate goal, the anthropomorphic
movement of a prosthetic arm with minimum mental effort.
This paper presents a definite contribution to the attainmentof
the above goal by developing further the latter approach.
At first, a probabilistic model of the EMG pattern is for-
mulatedbased on the pattern trajectory withrespect to the
command variation. The modelprovides not onlythesample
probabilitydensityfunction of pattern classes in thedecision
space but also the decomposition of a motion into its primitive
motions.
Then, amulticlasssequentialboundeddecisionprocedure is
designed for pattern classification. The decision speed and reli-
ability areenhancedbyspeed and motionpredictionswhich
adjust pattern locations and shape, and specify prior probability
distribution of pattern classes before each classification.
A learning procedure is also designed for the automatic update
of stored pattern information so that the decision procedure is
able to adapt the pattern variations.
Finally, the decomposition scheme is provided to assign speed
to each primitive motion involved in a combined motion, so as to
establish direct control of the a r m .
MODELOF EMG PA-ITERNS
11. PROBABILISTIC
Acommandwhichgeneratesashort-time arm movement is
specified by motion and speed. To develop a probabilistic model
of the EMG patterns in cooperationwithexperimentaldata,
motion and speed are properly defined as two variables in their
domain sets. Themodel is formulated in thefeaturespace of
integral absolure oalue (IAV) and describes the relation between a
LEE AND SARIDIS: CONTROL OF A PROSTHETIC A R M
VY pronation
Fig. 1. The graphical representation of a motion set.
commandandthe location and shape of the corresponding
pattern, where IAV is defined as the time integration of absolute
value of the EMG signal for the specified time interval.
Motion and Speed Variables
Motions of the three-degrees-of-freedom arm which has
humeral, elbow, and wrist axes can be conveniently reconstructed
by six primitivemotions and their velocities,wherethe
primitivemotionsdefinedhere are humeral rotation in and
rotation out, elbow flexion and extension, and wrist supination
and pronation.
Let mi, i = 1; . - , 6 represent the six primitive motions and let
vi, i =1; . .,6, represent their corresponding velocities. A com-
bination of two or three primitive motions mi and m J or m', m J ,
and m k with a particular velocity ratio v l / v J or c'/vJ or v ' / v J / v k ,
which donot conflict, determinesadouble-combinedmotion
mi,' or triple-combined motion mi*J,k. A double-combined or a
triple-combinedmotionsubset {mi,'} or { m r 9 J * kis} thende-
fined as the collection of all possible different velocity ratios in
the combination of two or three primitive motions mi and m J or
m i , m J , and mk. A motion set { m } is nowdefined as the
collection of six primitive motions, twelve double-combined mo-
tion subsets, eight triple-combined motion subsets, and no mo-
tion. l t is conveniently represented by a graph illustrated in Fig.
1, where six nodes represent six primitive motions, twelve edges
represent twelve double-combined motion subsets, and eight tri-
angular areas surrounded by threeedgesrepresenteight triple-
combined motion subsets.
A complete description of arm movement requires the specifi-
cation of absolute velocity or speed of a motion, since a motion
has an infinite number of velocity realizations of its primitive
motions which maintain the same velocityratio. The speed si of a
primitivemotion m' is first defined as the ratio betweenthe
actual velocity u' and theprespecifiedreferencevelocity
follows:
For convenience, speed s'.J or s i , * * of a combined motion m l - J
or mi.J, k is defined in terms of the speeds s i and sJ or S I , sJ, and from the commands randomly distributed around ( m ,s) due to
s k of its primitivemotions m' and mJ or mi,m J , and mk as the fact that amputee's muscle control which is highly random in
follows:
where
and iscommutativeandassociative.
A speed set { s } is now defined as a collection of all possible data collected from two electrode sites located on the biceps and
speeds.
291
Domain S e t [m}x{s] Feature
Space
b
Domain S e t [m]x{s] Feature
Space
(b)
Fig. 2. Pattern as a mappingfromcommand.(a)Mapping from a
six deterministic command ( m ,s) to a pattern x ( m , s). (b) Mapping from
a random command ( m , s; m, s) to a pattern x ( m , s ; m,s).
It is noted that the representation of arm movement in terms of
motion and speed, as described previously, is quite compatible
with theway an amputee tries to makeanarmmovement.
Furthermore, the introduction of tlie reference primitive veloci-
ties of amotionprovidesaconvenientway to connectthe
amputee'smuscletensioncontrol to theactual arm speed by
selecting the reference primitive velocities of a motion to corre-
spond to the amputee's most comfortable muscle tension of the
motion.
In a summary, a command which generates a short-time arm
movement is completely described by a pair { m , s} where m
represents a motion variable m E { m }, and s represents a speed
variable s E { s }, as defined previously.
Formulation of a Probabilistic Model
The EMG samples collectedfor a command( m ,s) E { m } x { s }
form a pattern in an appropriate feature space. The dimension of
the feature space is determined by the number of features multi-
pliedby the number of measurement sites, so that a pattern
containsboth thetimeinformation (selected features) andthe
spatial information(measurementsites) of the corresponding
v
:
command.
as
A pattern formedbyaspeculativedeterministiccommand
( m ,s) E { m } x { s } canberepresentedby a random vector
x( m , s), the randomness of which is considered mainly due to
various measurement noises x( m , s) is called pattern trajectory in
the sense that it represents the pattern-moving with respectto the
variation of a command ( m ,s), as shown in Fig. 2(a).
Sincesamples for acommand ( m ,s) can onlybecollected
its nature generates the command, a complete description of a
pattern with respect to a command requires the randomization of
motion and speed variables in pattern trajectory. An expression
x ( m ,s; m , s), called a probabilistic model of the EMG patterns, is
nowused to represent probabilistically the relation between a
commandand thelocation andshape of thecorresponding
pattern, as shown in Fig. 2@).
An explicit mathematicalexpression of themodel canbe
obtained in the feature space of IAV in cooperation with sample
triceps, as a specific application of the above argument.
292 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL,VOL. AC-29, NO. 4, A P N L 1984

The selection of feature

IAV for model
construction
brings t
mathematical and practical convenience due to
its proportional- 'a
ity to the speed of a motion at a constant load, or vice versa, in
many muscle activities [12].
Pattern trajectory x,( m , s) can then be expressed in the two-
dimensional feature space of IAV as follows:
x,(m,s)=f(m,s)+w (4)
where the additive measurement noise w is assumed to have zero
mean. The expected value of x , ( m , s), f ( m ,s), is called the
pattern trajectory function and represents the movement of the
mean point of pattern with respect to the variation of command.
A typical form off(m,s), ( m , s ) E { m ' . ; } x { s } ,is illustrated *
0 b
in Fig. 3 on the basis of experimental data, where either motion
or speed is considered as aparameter. f(m, s) can nowbe
Fig. 3. Pattern trajectory function.
expressed as follows,based on the linear relationshipbetween
IAV and speed:
Then, x , ( m , s: m , s) can be approximated as follows:
x , ( m , s : m , s ) = f ( m , s :m , s ) . (11)
where K( m ) represents the pattern trajectory function at the unit
speed. K ( m ) is then approximated by a iecewise linear function It is noted that thevariances of m and s depend on the
in eachsubdomain { m'vj} or { mi3J*'] withexperimentally amputee's degree of training acquired by experience.
specified reference coordinates. For example, with the following An explicit probabilistic model is obtained in the subdomain
reference coordinates: { m ' . J } x { s } from (9) and (11) as follows:

K(m')= [21, K ( r n J )= [:], and K ( r n > j ) = [21 x,(m,s:m,s)=gl(a)sL,+g,(B)sLg

where parameters a and fl are randomized.
(12)

The formulated model will be the basis of the derivation of

(6) sampleprobabilitydensityfunction and theconstruction of a
where m>J= { m'*Jls'/sJ = l/l}, and with new parameters OL and decomposition scheme as wil be discussed later.
j3, 0 < a,j3 < 1, K ( m ) , m E { m i , ' } can be approximated by the
following equation:
111. SAMPLE
PROBABILITY DENSITY
FUNCTION
(SPDF)
Command identification bypattern recognitionrequiresthe
specification of a suitable number of referencecommands as
pattern classes.Here,27referencemotions and onereference
speed are selected to form 27 reference commands. It is noted
that the reference speed is specified at each classification by the
speedprediction so as toadjust thelocation and shape of
reference patterns accordingly.
(7) A set { m , } of reference motions is formally defied in the
where follo~g:
1: forallmE { m ' . ' l s ' = z , O < s j < l } { m ~ } . = { ~ , { , m 1 , z = l ; . . ? 6 } , { r n ~12possiblecom-
',i,~;
L a [ Lp] = [mE {m'.'10<sr<~,sj=1)] (8) binabons of I andj}, { m > J * ki,, j , k ; 8 possible combina-
tions of i , j , and k } } ,
0: otherwise.
(13)
Then,f(m,s), ( m , s ) E { r n ' . j } x { s } ,is obtained from(5) and where I#I = no motion
(7) as follows: m: = m1
f(m,s>=g,(a)sL,+g*(j3)sLg. (9)
,J = { m'.'ls'/sJ = 1/1}
m'. '

,i. j.k = { m ~. . ~ 1s. k/ S I / ?

I =l/l/l}.
A probabilistic model of the EMG patterns x , ( m , s: m , s) is
now obtained by randomizing the motion and speed variables in
pattern trajectory as follows: Pattern classification iscarried out in thefeaturespace of
variance and zero crossings, where variance and zero crossings are
x,(m,s:m,s)= f(m,s: m,s)+w. (10) defined as thetimeintegration of squaredvalue of the EMG
signal and the number of times that the EMG signal changes its
Itis nowclaimed that therandomness of commandmostly sign, respectively, for the specified time interval.
affects the distribution of the pattern x , enough to neglect the
effect of noise w on x,. SPDF of Pattern Classes in the Feature Space of IA V
This claim is based on the fact that amputee's muscle control
in generatingacommand is highlyrandom and, furthermore, The SPDF of a reference command { m;J,s) P{x,I(m.>J,s)},
learning scheme can remove other critical long-term variations. can be derived from (12) by specifymg the probabhty dlstribu-
LEE A N D SARIDIS: CONTROL OF A PROSTHETIC ARM 293

tions of a, $, and s. The distributions of a,$,and s are approxi- Kz

mately specified as follows, based on the assumption that motion E{ X z } =-

and speed of thereference command s) are Gaussian(rn:’, 6’

distributed around ( m $ J s,): where K, is a constant, the value of which isdependent upon the
EMG signal sampling interval.
a = $Ia’I,a’- N ( O ,a:); Fig. 4 provides an experimental illustration of lemmas, while
the theoretical derivation is givenin AppendixA.
$ = $l$’I, B’- N ( O , $ ) ; The following theorem describes the result of transformation.
S- N(s,u
): (14) Theorem 2: The SPDF P { ( x , , x z ) T l ( m ,s)} is approximately
given by the following equations:
where N ( m , 0 ’ ) represents a Gaussian distribution with mean m p { ( x , , x z ) 7 = (x:,x:,,x:,x:) T~ (m,s))
and variance 0 2 , and the conditions a, ua -=ZS 1, and a, s are
implicitly assumed.
This assumption has been verified directly by the matching test - 1
between the derived pattern distribution and the actual pattern 2aNJ\/r,r,(l- rb)(l- rr)
distribution and indirectly by the effectiveness of proposed deci-
sion procedure.
The following theorem summarizes the derivation.
Theorem I: The SPDF of a reference command (mi;’, s),
[ 2
(x: - Nr,)
(x,”- N r b )
-exP{ - 2Nrb(1 - rb) + 2Nr,(1- r,)
P{ xol(mi;’,s)} is given by the following equation:

where

where

x:x: - ”x
,.: and N is the number of sample digitization.
a= Proof: See Appendix B.
x:(X:-Xf)-X:,(x,b-X;)’
The approximated SPDF derived in the feature space of vari-
Ja=Ix:(x~-X:)-x,”(Xf-xX:)IS,, (17) ance and zero crossings will be used in the pattern classification
procedure to take advantage of the better class separability
x:(x:-x:>-x:(xp-x,”) imposed by those feature subsets [6], [7].
s, =
x;:. - x:x;
N. MULTICLASS
SEQUENTIAL
DECISION
PROCEDURE
8, ss, and Jp are obtained from a,sa, and Ja by replacing i by j :
Pattern classification is carried out through a multiclass

L a ,[ L p ] =
L 1: if thereexists a mappingfrom (a,sa) to
( x , b , x : ) , [ ( P P B ) to
otherwise,
(.:?X:)]

(19)
sequential decision procedure designed for the effective control of
the probability of error. The decision rule and the stopping rule
of the procedure use simple mathematical formulas defined as the
likelihood probability and the decision measure, respectively.
Definition 1: Likelihood probability H ( q , x k )
k
x:, x:, ,:x x:, x,”, and x: are defined in (6) and satisfythe
conditions x:/x,” # .:/x; and x:/x,“ # $/x,”.
Proof: Direct results from the application of rule of random
vector transformation to (12) and (14).

SPDF in the Feature Space of Variance and Zero Crossings

where x k { xl; . ’ , x k } represents a sequence of k observed
The followinglemmas provide the relations between IAV, samples, wi, i = 1; . .,m represents m pattern classes, and
variance, and zerocrossings so that the SPDF of the feature rn
space of variance and zero crossings is obtained from the SPDF
of the feature space of IAV. i=l
Lemma 1: Let x, and x, represent IAV and variance of the
EMG signal, respectively. Then the following relationship holds: DecisionRule: If
B
x, = yx;.

Lemma 2: Let the random variable x, represent zero crossings then x k E w,.
of the EMG signal. Then the following relationship holds: Definition 2: Decision measures D ( x k )
294 AC-29, NO. 4, APRIL 1984

Integral Absolute Value (x 2 x lo-" v o l t ) I xa

Fig. 4. The relations between IAV,variance, and zero crossings.

o ( x k ) &j s lmax
...
{H ( ~ , X , ) ) . Then, the following sequence of inequalities is obtained:
, ,m.

Stopping Rule:
In case that k < Nmx,
if D(x,) 2 a , , then stop sampling and apply the decision
rule for decision
if o(xk) < a,, then take one more sample.
In case that k 2 N,,.
~(l-ct,)
Q)

k=l
Isk
P ( x k ) d x k = (1- 0,) (28)

stop sampling without regard to the value of D ( x k ) and where S, represents the entire space of x,.
apply the decision rule for decision. The above result is formalized in the following theorem.
Theorem 3: The stopping rule threshold a, has the following
The threshold a,, $ < a, < 1, is called stopping rule threshold. relationship with the upper bound of the probability of error PC:
Nma istheprespecifiedmaximumnumber of sampleswhich
bounds the decision interval for the stability and smoothness of PC6 1 - a , , (29)
arm control. It is noted that the design emphasizes the overall
procedural simplicity to achieve the faster computation required where
for the on-line decision making.
f<a,<l.
Stopping Rule Threshold Versus Probability of Error
Proof: Direct result of (28).
The assumption of the conditional independence of the sequen-
tially collectedsamples x k makesthelikelihood probability Auerage Number of Sample Observations
H( w,, x k ) e ual to the a posteriori probability density function of
2
O r , P ( w r / x 1. Let us consider that samples x,, j = 1,.. ., are collected from
Then, the probability of error in terms of the decision with k pattern class w,.
samples is given by the expected risk A random variable k isdefined as the number of sample
observations to reach the decision,either xJ E w, or x j E w,. Then,
E ( k / w , ) represents the average number of sample observations.
(
E 1- max ~ ( w , / x k ) )
i = l ,...,m A new compoundrandom variable u is now introduced as
follows:
where the expectation is applied to the decision space specified
by the stopping rule D ( x k )2 a,. v = ~ ( w , , x ~ ) ,i E {l;..,rn}, (30)
Hence, the probability of error PC of the designed procedure is
obtained as follows with the assumption of unbounded sampling:
where both x and k are random variables.
Then, either one of the following two states occurs when the
following decision is made.
1) The decision is made such that xJ E w, with probability PC1
under the condition that v b a,.
LEE A N D SARIDIS: CONTROL OF A PROSTHJXIC ARM 295

TABLE I
NUMBER
UPPER BOUND OF AVERAGE OF OBSERVATIONS

0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.6 0.5 0.4

0.5 0.25 0.125 0.125 0.6 0.5 0.4
0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.6 0.5 0.4
0.5 0.25 0.125 0.125 0.6 0.5 0.4
0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.6 0.5 0.4
0.5 0.25 0.125 0.125 0.6 0-5 0.4

0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.6 0.2 0.1

0.5 0.25 0.125 0.125 0.6 0.2 0.1
0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.6 0.2 0.1
0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.6 0.2 0.1
0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.6 0.2 0.1
0.5 0.25 0.125 0.125 0.6 0.2 0.1

0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2

0.5 0.25 0.125 0.125 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2
0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2
0.5- 0.25 0.125 0.125 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2
0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2
0.5 0.25 0.125 0.125 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.2

0.99 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1

0.5 0.25 0.125 0.125 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1
0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.3 0.1 0.1 Q.l
0.5- 0.25 0.125 0.125 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1

EL- 0.25
0.5
0.25
0.25
0.25
0.125
0.25
0.125
0.3
0.3
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1

2) Tne decision is made such that x j Z w, with probability Pel

under the condition that 0 i u < a',
so that the following inequality is obtained:
E{u/%+%{1-Pe1}. (31)
(35)
On the other hand, from (25), (30), and the conditional IID
assumption of samples, we have ~

Proof: By taking the logarithm of both sides of the inequal-

A crude approximation of E ( u / w , ) isnow obtained in the
following with the assumption that H( w,, X & ) is a smooth func-
tion of x and k enough to apply the crude approximation of
mean [16]:
ity obtained from (31) and (33).
Theorem 4 indicates the effect of decision accuracy a l ( l - Pel),
design accuracy P ( X / w , ) , and prior probability distributions
P ( w , ) on the decision speed. A numerical illustration is given in
Table I for thecaseof fourpattern classes. This revealsthe
possibility of enhancing decision speed and reliability by control-
ling the design accuracy and the prior probability distributions.
Indeed, speed and motion predictions are designed for this pur-
pose as presented in the next section. It is also noted that the
designed procedure will be equivalent to the multiclass sequential
probability ratio test under the assumption of the conditional
sample independence [20].

V. SPEEDAND MOTIONPREDICTION

Speed and motion predictions, estimated from the past history

of actual arm movement, play a role of information feedback into
the decision procedure to enhance the decision speed and reliabil-
ity. Speed andmotion predictions makeuse of the estimated
one-step ahead speeds, s,,, s, and s, of humeral, elbow, and wrist
(33) axis motors.
where X = E( x / w r ) , k = E( k/w,), and the last inequality comes Speed Prediction
directly from the following inequality:
The purpose of speed prediction is the on-line specification of
reference speed s and speed variance u: at each classification for
the enhancement of design accuracy. The following speed assign-
ment rule is proposed.
As a result, the following theorem is obtained.
Theorem 4: The upper bound of the expected number of sam- Speed Assignment Rule
ple observations is approximately given by the following inequal-
ity: If sh = s, = s, = 9, then s =1, u,' = u2, otherwise
296 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL, VOL. AC-29, NO. 4, APRIL 1984

s= max { Ishi,1sel, ISJ}, u,’ = s2u2 (36)

si++
i=h,e,w

where u2 is the speed variance at the unit speed and @ indicates

the unpredictable state.

Motion Prediction
The purpose of motionprediction is to generatethe prior
probability distribution of the pattern classes at each classifi-
cation. The specification of the prior probability distribution uses
the similarity distance d ( Q ,Q , ) , between the predicted reference
motion Q and each of d e reference motions Q l , i = 1,. . ., m , 0
such that kgher probability is assigned to the reference motion
with shorter distance. Fig. 5. Decomposition of a double combined motion.
Let us first representareferencemotion Q as the triple as
follows: VI. DECOMPOSITION
OF MOTIONS
Q A ( q h , qe, S w )
The decomposition procedure provides a direct way to assign
whereeach of q,,, qe, and qw indicatesthe state of motion of speed to each primitive motion involved in a combined motion.
humeral,elbow, and wrist axis, respectively, and takes avalue This canbe done bymappingthesample point located on a
from a set { + , - ,0, I$}. Here, + or - indicates the existence of suitable pattern trajectory function into a point on each speed
corresponding axis motion in the direction of + or -, while 0 trajectory of the primitive motions involved.
and @ represent thestopstateand theunpredictable state, A pattern trajectory functionf(m,s), ( m , s ) E { m ’ - j } x { s } is
,
respectively. specified in Fig. 5 as an illustration, where the reference coordi-
Then, the similarity distance is defined as follows. nates f ( mi,1),f ( m,, l), and f (mb J,1) and the sample point of a
Definition 3: Similarity distance d ( Q , , Q , )between
, two refer- double-combinedmotion x, aremarkedby D ? E , F , and C,
ence motions Q , = ( q ; , q:, &) and Q, = ( q i , q i , qh.) is defined as respectively.
follows: Let x , be represented by f(m> s,) on the pattern trajectory
J ,

function,.then the decomposition is equivalent to find f ( m i , s i )

d ( Q , , Q , ) P d ( q ; , , q ~ ) + d ( q : , , q : ) + d ( q : , , q ~ , ) (37) and f( mJ, s ) on line i and line j , respectively, as a mapping of
f ( m> s,). h e mapping should satisfy the following condition:
J,

where
s, = s,@s,. (41)
d ( q’,q’) d ( q’, q’),
d( ql,q j ) O for qi = q j , Since x, is in area 1 where s, > sJ, from (3) and (41), we have
that
d(O,+)pl, d(O,-)Pl, d(+,-)=3,
d(+,6)AO for6E{+,-,O,+}. (38)
The predicted reference motion Q p , Q p = ( q i , q,P,q!), can be Observing that sJ yaries from zero at the point A to s, at the
specified by the following motion predicbon rule. point G along the h e A G while s, is kept constant at s, s is
approximatelycalculated by thefollowingequationswiththe
assumption of a uniform rate of increase of sj along A G :
Motion Prediction Rule
s.=-sAC =-
OB
(43)
J AG OE‘
The decomposition rule is now derived from (42) and (43) as
follows.

Decomposition Rule
wherethe constants r,,re, and r, are prespecifieddecision
thresholds and s g n represents the signum function. A double-combinedmotion m i . / whichisrepresentedbya
The following prior probabilityassignment rule is nowpro- sample point x,, x, = (x!, isdecomposed into thespeeds, si
posed as an implementation of the principle that higher probabil- and s j , of its primitive motions by the following rule:
ity is assigned to the reference motion of shorter distance from Case 1:
the predicted reference motion.
Xf xr
Prior Probability Assignment Rule T>+,
x, x,
If the similarity distance d(Q,, Q j ) from Q p to Q, of a pattern
class wJ is d j , j = l ; . . , m , then the priorprobabllity P ( w , ) is
assigned by the following equation:

Case 2:
LEE AND SARIDIS: CONTROL OF A PROSTHITIC ARhi
si and s, are obtained from (44)and (45) by replacing i by j ,
where xf/x,b # x:/x,b. See Appendix C for the detailed deriva-
tion.
The decomposition of a triple-combined motion can be accom-
plished by decomposing it into one double-combined motion and
one primitive motion, with arbitrary selection of a double-com-
bined motion. Thedecompositionprovidesprecise anddirect
control of an arm.
ViI. LEARNINGPROCEDURE
An on-line learning procedure is provided toupdate the
parameter values of the SPDF such as reference coordinates and
variances, so as toadapt thelong-term variation of pattern
location and shape arising from variation of an amputee's physi-
cal condition, degree of training, and properties of recording
equipment.
At first, learning samples are collected for eachpattern class by
the learning sample selection rule which uses a properly defined
window region, as described in the following.
Definition 4: A windowregion w,(x,) for a class or with
reference coordinate x, is defined as follows:
where wr is a window region threshold and x, is a sample vector.
Learning Sample Selection Rule
A set L,(x,) of learning samples for a class w, is constructed
by the following rule:
If x, E o, and x, E W,(x,),
then x, E&
(x,), otherwise
x, 4 LAX,).
The useof thewindowregionfor on-line samplecollection
reducestheeffect of classification error on the evaluation of
pattern location andshape.
Now, the variation of pattern location, detected bythe dif-
ference between the mean of the learning samples %,(x,) A
E{ x,Ix, E L,(x,)} g d the exisfing mean x,, automatically calls
for updating the procedure described in the following algorithm.
Algorithm I -Reference Coordinate Learning Algorithm:
Input: Initial reference coordinate x,";a threshold constant
t; acceleration constant a; a sequence of positivenumbers q,,
i = 0,l;. .,
Output: New reference coordinate xyw.
Method:
Step 1) Set i = 0
Step 2) Calculate X,( x;) from &(x:)
Step 3) If l l ~ ( x i ) - x:1I2 G t go to.Step 7)
Step 4) +
x; q i [ x , ( x ; ) - xila
Step 5)Selectthenewwindowregion W , ( X ~and
+ ' )con-
struct L,( X i + l )
Step 6) i = i +1and go to Step 2)
Step 7) x": = x:.
This algorithm defines,a stochastic appoximation procedure.
Its convergence with probability one is guaranteed provided that
the sequence of positive numbers qi, i =1,2;. ., and E { ~ ~<
03 satisfied Dvoretsky's conditions [14].
Once the reference coordinates are updated, the variances are
estimated from the newly formed learning sample [13].
The procedure of learning the pattern location is illustrated in
Fig. 6. It is assumed that the pattern variation is slow enough for
the algorithm to keep up with it in real time.
297
0
Fig. 6. Learning of attern location. Windowregion Wr(x,) is updated
wth $e update of reference coordinate x,.
VIII. OVERALLPROCEDURE
The block diagram presented.jn Fig. 7 explains how individual
components of various functions worktogethertoward the
accomplishment of desired control goals.
The flowcharts given in Figs. 8 and 9 explain the developed
decision and learning procedures in more detail.
The procedures developed here actually work as the organizer
and, partially, coordinator of the hierarchically intelligent control
system [15].
A different neuromuscular channel is also provided for the
off-line learning and the correction of severe error.
The final values obtained through thedeveloped procedures
will be fed into the lower level of the coordinator which recon-
struct the motion on a per-interval basis and turn on the motors
of the prosthetic arm to activate it for this particular interval. The
subject should continue generating those synergistic EMG signals
for the next interval until the motion is completed.
m. EXPERIMENTAL. VERIFICATION
The effectiveness of the theories and the algorithms developed
are experimentally verified by the analysis of collected data and
the computer simulation of decision and learning procedures.
Due to the large volume of complete experimental results, only
parts of the important results which support the developed theo-
ries and algorithms are briefly described in the Appendix D. For
more details, see [13].
X. CONCLUSIONS
This research focuses on the construction of an EMG pattern
recognition systemwhichprovidesprecise identification of a
motion and speed command fromthesynergisticallygenerated
EMG signals. The system developedhas such functional capabili-
ties as high level of decision making, learning, and interaction
with control environment through motion and speed prediction.
The various schemes devised in this paper work together to-
ward the enhancement of control precision, decision speed, and
reliability and adaptation to environment which are vital to the
success of prosthetic arm control.
Also, this approach to EMG control of a prosthetic ann aimed
at the effortless control and little training of the amputee seems
advantageous over other techniques that require considerable
training and effort to generate mostly uncoordinated motion of
the arm.
x Further
~ ~ research
~ } is recommended to complete the design of the
coordinator in relation with the subsystem control and the con-
sideration of a real amputee as a subject to investigate any
differences in pattern formation or any other physiological and
psycological treatment required for the practical success [21]. It
would also be valuable to investigate the effect of training on the
pattern formation.
298 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL, VOL. AC-29, NO. 4 , APRIL 1984

Hierarchically
Intelligent
Control
System

t
S e q u e n t i a l Bounded

Neuromuscular

I
D i r e c t Command
Generator

I Subsystem1
Speed and
Motion F'redictor

u Coordi-
nator

3
ISubsysteml lSubsy8

Bank of
Sub-
systems

I i t i I
Fig. 7. Block diagram of overall procedure.

4
0 STAR

ISDecify system p a r a m e t e r s : s t o p p i n g r u l e 1
crocomputersystem
with
four
microprocessors
processing implementation of the algorithms.
for parallel

t-hreshbld- a t , m i x i m u m number of samples APPENDIX A

,N, window r e g i o n t h r e s h o l d m t , e t c .
be - DERIVATION
OF LEMMAS 1AND 2
S e t up t h e p a r a m k e r v a l u e s i n SPDFs:
referncecoordinates xr. Variances 02, The features IAV, variance, and zero crossings, represented by
and dg a t u n i t SDeed. x , , x , , and x , , respectively,areobtainedfrom the measured
EMG signal x ( ? ) by the following equations:

. N-1
I S e t k = 1. I
Take a sample x a n ds p e c i f y it i n t h e
f e a t u r e s p a c e o$ I A V 2nd i n t h e f e a t u r e 0; iotherwise.
x z = N - 1 q [ x ( i A t ) x ( ( i + l ) A r } ] , q ( x ) 6 ( 1; fx<o
space o f v a r i a n c e a n d z e r o c r o s s i n g s . i=O
t
CalculEte likelihood probability ( W
H(m , x 1, r = l , . . , m , by u s i n g SPDPs.
t The fact that the amplitude of the EMG signal at time t , x ( t ) ,
[ C a l c u ldaetcei sm
i oena s u r e D(xk). I is considered to have approximately Gaussian distribution with
zero mean and variance u2cl,[l]and theassumptions that the

..
sampling interval NAr is short enough to considerapproxi-
mately same for all t , t E [0, N A t ] , and that the ergodlclty condi-
.Y== tions are satisfied for IAV and variance result in the following
l A p p l yd e c i s i o nr u l ef o rc l a s s i f i c a t i o n . 1 equation:
1
Averagethesamples in the feature
space o f IAV.
A
Apply d e c o m p o s i t i o n r u l e t o s p e c i f y t h e
speed of each primitive motion. X , =E{ x 2 ( i a t ) } = u;, (A51
A , B t Learning Loop
where the deterministic values x , and x , represent the features of
a particular EMG signal x ( t ) .
The Lemma 1 is then derived directly from (A4) and (A5).
Fig. 8. Flowchart of decision procedure The investigation of the Lemma 2 starts with the definition of
the success probability r,, i = 0,. . .,N - 1, such that
rI~P,[x(iAt)x{(i+l)Ar}<O]. (A41
The actual software and hardware buildup is now under pro-
gress at the Robotics and Automation Laboratory of Rensselaer Then, by the assumption that r,'s are approximately the same
Polvtechnic Institute bv the authors. using a TI990/101-M mi- for all i so that r, 2 r . i =1; . ..N - 1, zero crossings x , has the
LEE AND SARIDIS: CONTROL OF A PROSTHETIC ARM 299

Yes

ence coordinate xpew

Calculate neweigen-
values of sample COY.
matrix: L1 and X2.

Calculate motion and

speed variances6:
and d i from eigen
values X1 and 1
2
thru transformation.

Fig. 9. Flowchart of learning procedure.

binomial distribution with success probability r , so that the P,(x,=(x,”,X:)TIX”=(xob,X:,)T)

following relationship is established:
E { xi} = Nr.

The
dependence
expected successof the probability r on the (A10)
EMG signal variance u,’ is now experimentally investigated, as
shown in Fig. 3 to establish thefollowing relationship: wherethesuccess probabilities rb and rr are obtained from the
Lemmas 1 and 2 and the equation (A6) so that
r a1 / Q 2 . (A81
E { x,”,[r1}= k, -
- kZ
The Lemma 2 is then directly resulted from (A4), (A?, and r b , [ ~E
]
(A8). Q.E.D.

APPENDIX B (All)
DERIVATION
OF THEOREM 2
By realizing that the following inequality condition is satisfied
From the conditional probability, thefollowing equation is
obtained:
Theequation (A10) can be approximated byusingthe
p((x”Ji) T =(x:~x:,x,b,x~)‘l(m,~,) DeMoivre-Laplace theorem [16] as follows:

[(
2
where
the P, is used
notation especially to represent the probabil-
.eq -
(xZ”-Nrb)
2Nrb(1- rb)
+ 2Nrr(l-
(xi-Nrr)2}].
Ij)
(A13)
ity of a discrete random variable x,.
Since x , has approximately a binomial distribution, as shown
in the derivation of the Lemma 2, and x,” and x i are considered On the other hand, P{x , = ( x ; , ~ : ) ~ #s)}
m is
, obtained from
independent of each other, we havethefollowing equation: Lemma 1 and Theorem 1 in the following:
300 E E E TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL, VOL. AC-29, NO. 4, A P N L 1984

IAV-BICEPS (x z x 10-5 volt)

Fig. 10. A typicalpatterntrajectory.

P ( x , = ( x , b , x : ) T ) = ~ P1 { x , = [ a ( x P . x : ) T ] 1 ’ 2 }

where the notation 11. 112 represents the Euclidean norm.

where Hence, the equations (43), (A17)-(A19)

Q.E.D.

Theorem 3.2 now results from (AS) and (A13)-(A15). Q.E.D. Sample Collection and Analysis

Samples were collected by using the “amputation simulator”

APPENDIX C devised to simulate the upper extremity amputee by immobilizing
DERIVA~O
OFNTHE DECOMPOSITION
RULE his arm [6]. Floating point surface electrodes, silver/silver chlo-
ridepregelleddisposableelectrodeswithhypoallergenic tape,
Equation (42) reveals that the speed si can be obtained from VER-MED A-10006-36T,are used to measure the EMG signals.
the following pattern trajectory function: They are located in two sites: one is just on the bulge of biceps
brachii and the other is in the lateral head of triceps. The measure
. [ ‘X]f s i + ( l - a ) [ x x~, ] s z = [ x,
x~]. (A16) EMG signal is amplifiedbythehigh-gain bandpass amplifier,
then digitized by A/D converter to store in a digital computer. A
digitizing interval is 160 ps for both electrode sites and 1000
Hence, (44)results from (A16). points are collected for one sample. Samples are collected from
Equation (43) is used for the derivation of s,, where OB and threelevels of speed-low, normal, and high-foreach of 27
OE’ are calculated by the following equations: referencemotions and 10 samples are collected for eachspeed
level.
A typical example of pattern trajectory is illustrated in Fig. 10
while Fig. 11 shows typical pattern shapes and locations in the
feature space of variance and zero crossings. The experimental
verification of the relations between IAV, variance, and zero
crossings have been shownin Fig. 4.

Computer Simulation

so that At first, the reference coordinates and the variances of pattern

LEE AND SARIDIS: CONTROL OF A PROSTHETIC A R M 301

V
I
0 -

level of increasing

3.0
variance (x 4 x 10-l' volt2)
30.7
15.0 46.4 62.1 77.9 93.6 125.0
109.3
Zero Crossings (2.C.)
Fig. 11. A typicalsample distribution.

loo I .o
Normalized Performance Measure
.2 .4 .6 .8 1.0 1.2

Averaged Upper Bounds

1st.
2nd.
3rd.
24.4 15.5 8.0
39.4 23.9 15.0
45.1 01.8 88.8

Averaged Lower Bounds

1st.
2nd.
3rd.
15.9 5.0 2.7
13.7
32.7 5.6
39.4 10.6 8.8

_._ . Motion No. 8

._...__.
ETHONN
Sequential Iterations
30
Fig. 12. The average behavior of the estimated up er and lower bounds
of theprobability of error for thedeveloped&cisionprocess;with Fig. 13. Learning of thereferencecoordinates to adapt the 10 percent
motion prediction ( M ) ;without motion prediction( E ) ; with Gaussian position variation, where normalized performance measure equals ac-
approximation ( G ) . tual distance/initial distance.

classes are estimated fromthe sample covariance matrix by
using the similarity transformation between two coordinate sys-
tems,speed and motion coordinate, and feature (IAV) coordi-
nate.
Then, through the computer simulation of a proposed sequen-
tial decision procedure, the upper and lower bounds of the
probability of misclassification are estimated bythe rotation
method and the resubstitution method.
The investigation includes the following cases:
1) three differentbounds (1, 2, and 3) of the sequential
iteration
2) with/without the motion prediction
3) with/without the speed prediction
4) Gaussian approximation of SPDF in the feature space of
IAV.
Also, the progress of learning is investigated through the com-
puter simulation of learning procedure.
Fig. 12 describes the estimated upper and lower bounds of the
302 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL, VOL. AC-29, NO. 4, APRIL 1984

probability of misclassificationaveragedoverallof 27 pattern Sukhan Lee (”80) receivedtheB.S. and M.S.

classes with respect to the three different bounds of iteration and degrees in electrical engineering from Seoul Na-
three different testing conditions. Fig. 13 illustrates the progress tional University, Seoul,Korea, in 1972 and 1974,
of updating the reference coordinates with respectto the learning respectively, and thePh.D.degree in electrical
engineering
from Purdue University,West
iteration. Lafayette, IN, in 1982.
These results clearly show the effectivenessof proposed schemes From 1974 to 1978, he held faculty positions
such as the probabilistic modelof the EMG patterns, the sequen- withthe Department of ElectricalEngineering,
tialdecisionprocedure,the motion andspeedpredictions,and Korea Military Academyand the Departmentof
the learning procedure. ElectricalEngineering, Inha University,Korea.
A follow-uppaperwillbeprovidedformoredetailedand In 1980, he joined theAdvancedAutomation
complete information on the experimental results, based on 1131. Research Laboratory, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, as a Re-
search Assistant. From 1982 to 1983, he held a postdoctoral position in
the Robotics and Automation Laboratory and an Instructorship in the
REFERENCES Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering, Rensse-
laer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. He is currently aResearch Assistant
C. J. De Luca, “Physiologyand mathematics of myoelectric signals,” Professorinthe Department of ElectricalEngineering,University of
IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng., vol. BME-26, pp. 313-325, June 1979. Southern California,LosAngeles. His mainresearch interests are in
E.Shwedyk, R. Balasubraminian, andR.N. Scott, “Anonsta- robotics, pattern recognition,artificialintelligence, and computernet-
model for the electromyogram,”IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng., works.
%?%lE-24, pp. 417-424, Sept.2977. Dr. Lee is a member of Tau Beta Pi and the Associationfor Computing
D.Graupeand W.K. Cline, Functionalseparation of EMG Machinery.
signals VI:
ARMAidentificationmethodsforprosthesis
purposes, IEEE Trans. Syst., Man, Cybern., vol. SMC-5, pp.
control
252-259, Mar. 1975.
D.Graupe, J. Magnussen,and A.A.Beex, “A microrocessor
svstem for multifunctionalcontrol ofUDDer-hnbDrostResesvia
myoelectricsignal identification,” IEEE’ bans. AGomat. Contrl,
VO~. AC-23, pp. 538-544, Aug. 1978.
R. W. Wirta, D. R. Taylor, and F. R. Finley, “Pattern recopition
arm prostheses: A historicalperspective-Afinal report, Bull.
Prosthes. Res.. DD.8-35. Fall 1978.
G. N. Saridis’Gd T. Gootee, “EMG pattern analysis and classifi-
cation fora prostheticarm,” IEEE Trans.Biomed.Eng., vol.
BME-29, pp. 403-409, June 1982.
G. N. Saridis and M.A. Newman, “Upper limb EMG statistical
analysis,” in Proc. MIDCON 1979, Chicago, IL, Nov. 1979.
A. Freedy, F. C.Hull, and J. Lyman, “A learningsystemfor
trajectory controlin artificial arms,” in Proc.4th Znt. Symp. on
External Contr. of Human Extremities, Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, Sept.
1972, pp. 303-316.
J. Lyman, A. Freedy, and H. Zadaca, “Studies anddevelopment of
heuristic end- oint control forartificial upper limbs,” Biotech. Lab.,
Univ. Calif., [os Angeles, Tech. Rep. 54, Oct. 1974.
P. D. Lawrence and W. C. Lin, “Statistical decision making in the
real-time control of an arm aid for the disabled,”IEEE Trans. Syst.,
Man, Cybern., vol. SMC-2, pp. 35-42, Jan. 1975.
S. C. Jacobsen and R. W. Mann, “Control systemsforartificial
arm,” in Proc. IEEE Conf. on SMC, pov. 1973.
0. C. J. Li pold and B. Bigland, The relationbetweenforce
velocity anamtegrated electncal activity in humanmuscles,” J .
Physiol., pp. 214-224, 1954.
S. Lee and G. N. Saridis, “Intelligent controlof a prosthetic arm by
EMG pattern recognition,” Robotics and Automat. Lab., Rensse-
laer Polytech. Inst., Troy, N Y , Tech. Rep. 8, 1982.
G. N. Saridis, Sel-OrganizingControl of Stochastic Systems. New
York: Marcel De&i er, 1977.
G. N. Saridis and H. E. Stephanou, “Ahierarchical approach to the
control of a prostheticarm, ’ IEEE Trans. Syst., Man, Cybern., vol.
SMC-7, pp. 407-420, June 1977.
A. Pa oulis, Probability, Random Variables, and Stochastic Processes.
New Fork: McGraw-Hill, 1965.
K. Fukuna a, Introduction to StatisticalPatternRecognition. New
York: Acafiemic., 1972.
~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
~- ~~

M.H. DeGroot, OptimalStatisticalDecisions. NewYork:Mc-

Graw-Hill, 1970.
P. J. Bickel and K. A. Doksum, MathematicalStatistics. San
Francisco, CA: Holden-Da , 1977.
Ph.D.
,‘:
E. Persoon, E. Sequentid decision procedures with prespecified
error probabihtles,’ dissertation, Purdue
Univ., West
Lafayette, IN, Au 1974.
S . C. Jacobsen, %:
F. Knutti,R. T. Johnson, and H. H. Sears,
“Develo ment of the Utah artificial arm,” IEEETrans.Biomed.
Eng., vo? BME-29, pp. 249-269, Apr. 1982.