The musculoskeletal system of the human arm — More than the sum of its parts

Biological systems show outstanding performance in the control of highly redundant and nonlinear systems. The complexity of these systems has raised questions about sufficient strategies of planning and controlling movements. Although many aspects of the musculoskeletal system, like nonlinear muscle properties, redundant actuation, and mechanically coupled joints, seem to make things more complicate from a purely technical point of view, this complexity has positive influence on the control. In this paper we show first aspects on how the nonlinear characteristics of the musculoskeletal system of the human arm may influence and even support the control of movements.