Research Projects

Intermittent feedback control is a form of feedback control where variables are observed continuously but corrective action is initiated intermittently. This is known as event-driven intermittent control. While evidence of the CNS employing this strategy to control quiet standing posture has been widely reported, it remains to be rigorously verified. The inner workings of this intermittent control strategy, such as the nature of threshold criteria and whether they change with task conditions or age, remain a mystery. Investigating this intermittent control strategy may help uncover insights about how control of quiet stance degrades with age and in diseased conditions, such as Parkinson's Disease, and may lead to better early identification of fall risks. This research may also be of interest to the humanoid robotics community, as it may lead to insights for improving posture control strategies in robots.