Research in Design and Development of a Functional Model of the Human Nonauditory Labyrinths

摘要

A functional model of the human vestibular system was designed and built. The vestibular model consists of two major subassemblies: a three-axis gimbal system for simulating head motion; and a special-purpose analog computer which permits simulation of the semicircular canal and otolith dynamic response and nonlinearities. The gimbal system head simulator can be driven through the computer or independently. The entire 'head' may be placed in an aircraft or in a centrifuge or other motion device. The inner gimbal, representing the skull, carries nine inertial sensors to detect the head motion in inertial space. A three-axis rate gyro package detects angular velocity, as inputs to the six semicircular canals. Sox single-axis linear accelerometers, three for each ear, detect the specific force inputs for the otolith gravireceptors. The distance between the two ears may be varied by a physical adjustment. The analog computer provides for simulation of the output of each of the twelve v stibular channels. (Author)