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CODE 106729
ACADEMIC YEAR 2022/2023
CREDITS
SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINARY SECTOR ING-INF/06
LANGUAGE English
TEACHING LOCATION
  • GENOVA
SEMESTER 2° Semester
TEACHING MATERIALS AULAWEB

OVERVIEW

The course aims at providing the essential physiological background and knowledge of experimental methods and computational tools for understanding human movements.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

L'insegnamento presenta le tecnologie, i metodi analitici, gli approcci modellistici per l'analisi e la quantificazione del movimento umano e dei suoi correlati neurali. Argomenti specifici includono analisi tridimensionale dei movimenti, la meccanica muscolare e corporea, la fisiologia e i segnali fisiologici nel controllo motorio, la modellistica del controllo motorio.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of the course the students will be able to record and analyse human movements (kinematics, kinetics, muscle activity) and describe the underlying control, using the appropriate devices, and analytical and modeling tools.

PREREQUISITES

There are no formal prerequisites, but students are expected to know mechanics, geometry, calculus and signal analysis. 

TEACHING METHODS

The course combines lectures, guided experimental sessions, and analysis of movement data.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

A. Human movement (wk 1-2). Levels of description of movement: kinematic, kinetic, muscle mechanics, physiology. Terminology for describing human movements (limb movements, hand movements including manipulation). Reminder of neuroanatomy of the sensorimotor system. 

B. Motion capture technologies (wk 3-4). Introduction to projective geometry.Stereophotogrammetry. Inertial measurement units.  Analysis of movement kinematics.

C. Muscle mechanics and control (wk 5-6). Reminder of muscle physiology. Fiber types: intrafusal, extrafusal.  Hill’s model of muscle force generation. Muscles and contraction types. Motor units and size principle. Electromyography: surface vs intramuscular. Analysis of EMG signals. 

D. Single-joint and Multi-joint neuromechanics (wk 7-8). Rigid body mechanics: Newton-Euler and Lagrange Methods. Multi-joint movement statics. The redundancy problem. Dynamics: equations of motion of kinematic chains. Mechanical impedance and its measure.  Dynamometry.

E. Biomechanics of locomotion (wk 9-10). Gait kinematics and kinetics. Running, cycling, swimming.

Computational motor control (wk 11-12). Historical overview. Movement psycho-physics. Multi-sensory and sensorimotor integration. Optimality in motor control. Joint action.  Motor learning.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Uchida TK, Delp SL (2021) Biomechanics of Movement. MIT Press. 

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

VITTORIO SANGUINETI (President)

MARCO MASSIMO FATO

SILVIO PAOLO SABATINI (President Substitute)

LESSONS

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Written exam (weight 50%) 

Project work (weight 50%)

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The written exam will consist of questions and problems on lecture topics. 

The project work will involve recording a specific movement and analyzing the recorded data

Exam schedule

Data appello Orario Luogo Degree type Note
16/01/2023 09:30 GENOVA Scritto
16/01/2023 09:30 GENOVA Scritto
06/02/2023 09:30 GENOVA Scritto
06/02/2023 09:30 GENOVA Scritto
15/06/2023 09:30 GENOVA Scritto
15/06/2023 09:30 GENOVA Scritto
10/07/2023 09:30 GENOVA Scritto
10/07/2023 09:30 GENOVA Scritto
11/09/2023 09:30 GENOVA Scritto
11/09/2023 09:30 GENOVA Scritto