A Forward Analytic Model for the Control of Octopus Arm Movements

Abstract

We take motion for granted. As you flipped the cover page to this paper or scrolled down on your computer screen by moving a computer mouse, you probably did not calculate the exact trajectory of your hand and think about the exact muscle contractions needed to execute that specific course of action. And yet we perform simple actions such as these constantly. When we decide that we want to move in a certain way, the amazing computational machines that are our brains are somehow able to subconsciously calculate the precise muscle contractions needed to achieve that motion. The human brain, and in fact, the brain of all animals, is an expert in solving the control problem: determining the required input parameters for the system’s variables and deriving the values required for those parameters to achieve a desired outcome. Put more simply, we subconsciously figure out which muscles need to be contracted or relaxed and the exact extent of that change that is required.