From robotic hands to human hands: a visualization and simulation engine for grasping research

Abstract

Robotic hands are still a long way from matching the grasping and manipulation capability of their human counterparts. One way to push the research further along is to use computer modeling and simulation to learn more about human and robotic grasping. We have created a publicly available simulator to serve this purpose. It can accommodate a wide variety of hand designs, and it can evaluate grasps formed by these hands, as well as perform full dynamic simulation of the grasping process. In this paper, we present the various components of the system, and we describe two projects which use it as an integral part of larger grasp planning systems. We also discuss the development of a human hand model that uses accurate geometry and kinematics derived from experimental measurements. This is part of our current project to create a biomechanically realistic human hand model to better understand what features are most important to mimic in the designs of robotic hands.

Hand Posture Prediction Using Neural Networks within a Biomechanical Model

“…Very different tasks can be carried out with them because of its complex kinematics, with more than 20 degrees of freedom (dof) controlled by muscles, tendons and ligaments. The study of the human grasp is very interesting because of the knowledge it can provide regarding human/robot grasping and manipulation [1].…”

“…Over the past two decades, a lot of research has been carried out in the field of robotic grasping [1][2][3][4] and it is currently a very hot topic. Several of the existing techniques can be extended to the field of biomechanics due to the similarities between human and robotic hands, although the former are kinematically simpler than the latter.…”

e_GRASP: Robotic Hand Modeling and Simulation Environment

“…Miller et al [9]. have furthermore developed a simulation platform, where they focused on (Design/methodology/approach), as they are unlike other simulation systems.…”

“…However, the simulation system was built specifically to analyze grasps by robotics hand. Miller et al [9] also reported that, "It can import a wide variety of robot designs by using standard descriptions of the kinematics and link geometries. Various components support the analysis of grasps, visualization of results, dynamic simulation of grasping tasks, and grasp planning".…”

Interactive Features for Robot Viewers

“…-GraspIt! [3], a common tool for grasp planning where the simulated robot, or the robotic hand, is specified using XML. The fingers can be moved by mouse commands as well.…”