|
Morphology and control in animals and machines
I am interested in questions surrounding morphology and control in animals and machines. On the one hand the body's structure affects function, namely control strategies. On the other hand, demands on function shape the body, namely the evolution of animals or the design of machines. I use specific example "systems" — the hand, the arm and the leg — to understand the interplay between morphology and control in humans. My lab and I rely on the use of mathematical models, biomechanical experiments, and robotic devices. We develop mathematical theories to predict the interplay between morphology and control, test those theories using measurements on human volunteers, and when possible, translate our understanding into mechanical analogues.
Selected Publications
- D.E. Lieberman, M. Venkadesan, W.A. Werbel, A.I. Daoud, S. D’Andrea, I.S. Davis, R.O. Mang’eni, and I. Pitsiladis. Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners. Nature, 463(7280):531–5, 2010.
- M. Venkadesan and F.J. Valero-Cuevas. Effects of neuromuscular lags on controlling contact transitions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series A, 367(1891):1163–1179, 2009.
- M.Venkadesan and F.J. Valero-Cuevas. Neural control of motion-to-force transitions with the fingertip. Journal of Neuroscience, 28(6):1366-1373, 2008.
- M. Venkadesan, J. Guckenheimer, and F.J. Valero-Cuevas. Manipulating the edge of instability. Journal of Biomechanics, 40(8):1653–1661, 2007.
Education and other related experience
- B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, 2000.
- M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 2003.
- Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 2007.
- Postdoc in Mechanical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 2006-2007.
- Postdoc in Mathematics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 2007-2008.
- Postdoc in Applied Mathematics and Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2008-2010.
Keywords
Biomechanics, Motor control, Morphology, Optimal control, Locomotion, Leg, Foot, Arm, Hand, Finger, Dexterity, Grasp, Throwing, Hunting, Walking, Running, Crawling, Jumping, Muscle mechanics, Robotics, Bifurcation theory, Nonlinear dynamical systems, Randomness, Probability, Rigid body mechanics, Numerical methods for dynamical systems.
Contact information
Madhusudhan Venkadesan
Assistant Professor
National Centre for Biological Sciences
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
GKVK Campus, Bellary Road
Bangalore 560065, Karnataka.
|
.