2D Jaw-Movement Simulator (JSN/S1)

Control of Opening and Closing Movement with Clench

Abstract

Human mastication is performed by coordinated motions of several muscles attached to the jaws. To clarify the functions of these muscles, we have developed a jaw movement simulator (JSN/S1). The simulator consists of a 2DOF mechanism and four muscle actuators, capable of realizing jaw movements in a sagittal plane. The actuator is a cable-tendon driven by DC-servo motor, which is controlled under a compliance control scheme to obtain viscoelastic characteristics of the muscle. In order to simulate life-like clenching motion, we attempted to control the position and force at the incisal point, by incorporating position/force sensors to that point, and employing a neural-network based learning control scheme. Consequently, the trajectory and force at the incisal point were successfully converged into desired value through learning process.