sEMG-Driven Physics-Informed Gated Recurrent Networks for Modeling Upper Limb Multi-Joint Movement Dynamics

TL;DR

This paper introduces PiGRN, a physics-informed neural network that accurately predicts multi-joint movement dynamics from sEMG data, enhancing control in exoskeletons and rehabilitation systems.

Contribution

The novel PiGRN model integrates biomechanical principles with recurrent neural networks to improve movement prediction from sEMG data.

Findings

PiGRN accurately predicts joint torques with low RMSE.

High correlation coefficients demonstrate strong prediction accuracy.

Model generalizes well to unseen movements.

Abstract

Exoskeletons and rehabilitation systems have the potential to improve human strength and recovery by using adaptive human-machine interfaces. Achieving precise and responsive control in these systems depends on accurately estimating joint movement dynamics, such as joint angle, velocity, acceleration, external mass, and torque. While machine learning (ML) approaches have been employed to predict joint kinematics from surface electromyography (sEMG) data, traditional ML models often struggle to generalize across dynamic movements. In contrast, physics-informed neural networks integrate biomechanical principles, but their effectiveness in predicting full movement dynamics has not been thoroughly explored. To address this, we introduce the Physics-informed Gated Recurrent Network (PiGRN), a novel model designed to predict multi-joint movement dynamics from sEMG data. PiGRN uses a Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) to process time-series sEMG inputs, estimate multi-joint kinematics and external loads, and predict joint torque while incorporating physics-based constraints during training. Experimental validation, using sEMG data from five participants performing elbow flexion-extension tasks with 0 kg, 2 kg, and 4 kg loads, showed that PiGRN accurately predicted joint torques for 10 novel movements. RMSE values ranged from 4.02\% to 11.40\%, with correlation coefficients between 0.87 and 0.98. These results underscore PiGRN's potential for real-time applications in exoskeletons and rehabilitation. Future work will focus on expanding datasets, improving musculoskeletal models, and investigating unsupervised learning approaches.