1,541 research outputs found
Detection of bimanual gestures everywhere: why it matters, what we need and what is missing
Bimanual gestures are of the utmost importance for the study of motor
coordination in humans and in everyday activities. A reliable detection of
bimanual gestures in unconstrained environments is fundamental for their
clinical study and to assess common activities of daily living. This paper
investigates techniques for a reliable, unconstrained detection and
classification of bimanual gestures. It assumes the availability of inertial
data originating from the two hands/arms, builds upon a previously developed
technique for gesture modelling based on Gaussian Mixture Modelling (GMM) and
Gaussian Mixture Regression (GMR), and compares different modelling and
classification techniques, which are based on a number of assumptions inspired
by literature about how bimanual gestures are represented and modelled in the
brain. Experiments show results related to 5 everyday bimanual activities,
which have been selected on the basis of three main parameters: (not)
constraining the two hands by a physical tool, (not) requiring a specific
sequence of single-hand gestures, being recursive (or not). In the best
performing combination of modeling approach and classification technique, five
out of five activities are recognized up to an accuracy of 97%, a precision of
82% and a level of recall of 100%.Comment: Submitted to Robotics and Autonomous Systems (Elsevier
3DTouch: A wearable 3D input device with an optical sensor and a 9-DOF inertial measurement unit
We present 3DTouch, a novel 3D wearable input device worn on the fingertip
for 3D manipulation tasks. 3DTouch is designed to fill the missing gap of a 3D
input device that is self-contained, mobile, and universally working across
various 3D platforms. This paper presents a low-cost solution to designing and
implementing such a device. Our approach relies on relative positioning
technique using an optical laser sensor and a 9-DOF inertial measurement unit.
3DTouch is self-contained, and designed to universally work on various 3D
platforms. The device employs touch input for the benefits of passive haptic
feedback, and movement stability. On the other hand, with touch interaction,
3DTouch is conceptually less fatiguing to use over many hours than 3D spatial
input devices. We propose a set of 3D interaction techniques including
selection, translation, and rotation using 3DTouch. An evaluation also
demonstrates the device's tracking accuracy of 1.10 mm and 2.33 degrees for
subtle touch interaction in 3D space. Modular solutions like 3DTouch opens up a
whole new design space for interaction techniques to further develop on.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
Flexible human-robot cooperation models for assisted shop-floor tasks
The Industry 4.0 paradigm emphasizes the crucial benefits that collaborative
robots, i.e., robots able to work alongside and together with humans, could
bring to the whole production process. In this context, an enabling technology
yet unreached is the design of flexible robots able to deal at all levels with
humans' intrinsic variability, which is not only a necessary element for a
comfortable working experience for the person but also a precious capability
for efficiently dealing with unexpected events. In this paper, a sensing,
representation, planning and control architecture for flexible human-robot
cooperation, referred to as FlexHRC, is proposed. FlexHRC relies on wearable
sensors for human action recognition, AND/OR graphs for the representation of
and reasoning upon cooperation models, and a Task Priority framework to
decouple action planning from robot motion planning and control.Comment: Submitted to Mechatronics (Elsevier
Preliminary design issues for inertial rings in Ambient Assisted Living applications
A wearable 9dof inertial system able to measure hand posture and movement is presented. The design issues for the deployment of measurement instrumentation based on no-invasive ring-shaped inertial units and of a wireless sensor network by them composed are described. Compromises between the physical and functional proprieties of a wearable device and the requirements for the hardware development are discussed with attention to an handsome design concept aesthetically effective. Techniques of power saving based on an optimized firmware programming are mentioned to realize a performing battery powered system featured by an exhaustive operation time. The printed circuit board (PCB) design rules, the choice of the components and materials, the fusion of inertial data with optical sensors outcomes are also discussed. Previous experience in the field of wearable systems are mentioned in the presentation of the results that emphasize the functional and application potential of a 9dof inertial system integrated in a ring-shaped device. � 2015 IEEE
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