Computational simulation for lifting motion of musculoskeletal arm

Human movement is generated by the musculoskeletal mechanics under control of brain. Lifting motion is a common one among all kinds of motions. Although lifting motion for human beings is common, it is still challenging to simulate it computationally. This paper aims to simulate muscular activities of musculoskeletal arm during lifting motion process by the software OpenSim. To simulate the lifting motion of musculoskeletal arm precisely, six muscles are attached to skeletal system. In detail, these six muscles are Biceps long head (BIClong), Biceps short head (BICshort), Brachialis (BRA), Triceps lateral head (TRIlat), Triceps long head (TRIlong), and Triceps medial head (TRImed). From the experimental results, it can be seen that muscles realize the lifting motion by acting antagonistically. Meanwhile, due to the muscles named BIClong and BICshort, also TRIlat and Trimmed have similar length and close insertion onto skeletal system, the curves of their total fiber force at different shoulder joint and elbow joint angels own the similar shapes.