Control of virtual motion systems

The authors introduce a new control problem: the control of motion simulating devices (virtual motion systems (VMS)) for walking and running humans and robots in a fashion that feels most realistic, that is, like locomoting on ground. After developing simplified dynamical models for the VMS, the human/robot and the resulting coupled system, the authors cast the problem in terms of a performance index. This approach permits application of standard optimal control theory. They present two solutions and discuss upcoming problems in the task domain of virtual motion control.