ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Robot. AI
Sec. Bio-Inspired Robotics
Simulating the Integration and Regulation of Human Ia and Ib Reflexes on Musculoskeletal Robot Driven by Pneumatic Artificial Muscles
1. Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
2. Osaka Daigaku, Suita, Japan
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Abstract
Simulations of human Ia and Ib reflexes on a bio-inspired musculoskeletal robot driven by pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) offers an attractive option to counter disturbances in complex and dynamical work environments, providing a solution to the significant computational burdens that undermine its potential due to PAMs' inherent non-linearities. This research focuses on the simultaneous integration of human Ia and Ib reflexes(referred to as double-reflex) as countermeasures against physical disturbance in a musculoskeletal robot system driven by PAMs. The system's performance was examined, and implementation challenges were identified during experiments. Mechanisms were then applied to ensure the effective functioning of the integrated reflexes. Experimental results substantiated the effectiveness of the double-reflex system, highlighting its functionality within the robotic system. This investigation corroborates the viability of concurrently implementing Ia and Ib reflexes and provides a reference for the design of robotic reflex control systems. The study also offers some reference, from the view of signal processing, about the possible functions of the human spinal cords that might be necessary to arrange proper reflex actions.
Summary
Keywords
Bio-inspiredRobot, double-Reflex control system, Local reflex control, Musculoskeletal robot, Pneumatic Artificial Muscles, Robotics
Received
07 November 2025
Accepted
09 January 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Wang, Takahashi, Li, Jiang and Hosoda. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Junqi Wang
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