Specific questions about OpenSim: files, RRA, CMC

[Ana Algora]

Hello dear OpenSim users,

I am sorry to start such a general topic, yet with so specific questions. I would like to thank in advance your help, even if it is just related to one of my questions.

1) Tools for Preparing Data
I am aware of MOtoNMS and other interfaces that help create the "markersmotion.trc" and "GRF.mot" files usually required by most of OpenSim tools. Unfortunately, the data that I have to work with is all stored in very specific .mat files (EMG, forces, markers). Which other tools exist to prepare this data for OpenSim use? Would I have to convert all this .mat files to a .c3d format so that I can use MOtoNMS?

Another idea that comes to my mind is to write the .trc and .mot using Notepad, copying the info in the .mat files, according to the language specifications that are described in OpenSim users guide. Would this be possible?

2) RRA Tool
I was working with the UNIPD subject model .osim provided by BOPS tool (another SimTK project). I tried to implement RRA. However, I am lacking two important files: actuators.xml and trackingTasks.xml. I understand their implication, but I lack the tools or the understanding to define them for my model.

So how to obtain these files? I read the Settings Files and XML Tag Definitions section in RRA, but I cannot get a clear idea in mind.

3) CMC tool
Just like the RRA, among other files, it needs the actuators.xml and trackingTasks.xml files. Are these just refined versions of the ones resulting from RRA? Do they have the same syntax?

4) EMG and CMC
I would like to implement RRA and CMC to the UNIPD .osim model provided by BOPS. If everything was correct, I would be able to see the muscle activations resulting from CMC. Can these CMC curves in any case be equivalent to real EMG recordings? My idea is to compare the CMC results with the EMG recordings; if they are not equivalent in meaning, then it is not worth it to try to implement this.


I hope all these sounds understandable.

Thank you very much for your help,

Ana

[jimmy d]

1) Tools for Preparing Data

There is a list of tools to prepare data here. Almost all of these toolboxes use Matlab data structures as intermediaries, converting C3D to Matlab Arrays/Structures and then printing the Arrays/Structures to trc/mot file format. You can download these packages and augment them to your particular data inputs.

2) RRA Tool

You either have to email the authors and ask them directly or generate them yourself. You can see examples of these files in your OpenSim installation folder (Models/Gait2392).

3) CMC tool

Same as RRA

4) EMG and CMC

Researchers typically compare experimentally collected EMG against the CMC activations. You should ALWAYS do this to validate your simulations. Please read this