A Metric for Comparing the Anthropomorphic Motion Capability of Artificial Hands

Abstract

Abstract-We propose a metric for comparing the anthropomorphic motion capability of robotic and prosthetic hands. The metric is based on the evaluation of how many different postures or configurations a hand can perform by studying the reachable set of fingertip poses. To define a benchmark for comparison, we first generate data with human subjects based on an extensive grasp taxonomy. We then develop a methodology for comparison using generative, nonlinear dimensionality reduction techniques. We assess the performance of different hands with respect to the human hand and with respect to each other. The method can be used to compare other types of kinematic structures.

The Role of the Thumb: Study of Finger Motion in Grasping and Reachability Space in Human and Robotic Hands

“…As described in [18], five different subjects, all right handed, were asked to perform the grasp postures according to the classification outlined in [23]. The subjects, three males and two females, have an average hand length of 185.2 mm and hand width of 81.1 mm with standard deviation of 13.3 mm and 7.4 mm respectively.…”

“…For instance, [18] evaluates the kinematic space of the fingers as a whole, and [19] is addressing solutions to the correspondence problem for the entire hand. Such contributions are very important, but they don't take into account the prominent role of the thumb.…”

Grasping Grasping in GRASP

“…A natural question was how to define a similarity measure through which the capabilities of different hands can be analyzed. We addressed the problem of comparing the capabilities of different hands through the use of non-linear dimensionality reduction techniques [9].…”

Kinematic Analysis of the Human Thumb with Foldable Palm

“…Object dimensions and reference sensor positions (Fig. 2) are adopted from [19]. Each subject is instructed to move the flat hand from the start position, grasp the object in precision grasp strategy without squeezing the object as much as possible, lift it, place it in a new marked position (25 cm apart) and move the hand back to the original position (Fig.…”