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Abstract

The goal of this paper is to better understand how the neuromuscular system of a pilot, or more generally an operator, adapts itself to dierent types of haptic aids during a pitch control task. A multi-loop pilot model, capable of describing the human behaviour during a tracking task, is presented. Three dierent identication techniques were investigated in order to simultaneously identify neuromuscular admittance and the visual response of a
human pilot. In one of them, the various frequency response functions that build up the pilot model are identied using multi-inputs linear time-invariant models in ARX form. A
second method makes use of cross-spectral densities and diagram block algebra to obtain the desired frequency response estimates. The identication techniques were validated using Monte Carlo simulations of a closed-loop control task. Both techniques were compared with the results of another identication method well known in literature and based on cross-spectral density estimates. All those methods were applied in an experimental setup in
which pilots performed a pitch control task with dierent haptic aids. Two dierent haptic aids for tracking task are presented, a Direct Haptic Aid and an Indirect Haptic Aid. The two haptic aids were compared with a baseline condition in which no haptic force was used. The data obtained with the proposed method provide insight in how the pilot adapts his control behavior in relation to dierent haptic feedback schemes. From the experimental results it can be concluded that humans adapt their neuromuscular admittance in relation
with dierent haptic aids. Furthermore, the two new identication techniques seemed to give more reliable admittance estimates.