Anthropomorphism Index of Mobility for Artificial Hands

The increasing development of anthropomorphic artificial hands makes necessary quick metrics that analyze their anthropomorphism. In this study, a human grasp experiment on the most important grasp types was undertaken in order to obtain an Anthropomorphism Index of Mobility (AIM) for artificial hands. The AIM evaluates the topology of the whole hand, joints and degrees of freedom (DoFs), and the possibility to control these DoFs independently. It uses a set of weighting factors, obtained from analysis of human grasping, depending on the relevance of the different groups of DoFs of the hand. The computation of the index is straightforward, making it a useful tool for analyzing new artificial hands in early stages of the design process and for grading human-likeness of existing artificial hands. Thirteen artificial hands, both prosthetic and robotic, were evaluated and compared using the AIM, highlighting the reasons behind their differences. The AIM was also compared with other indexes in the literature with more cumbersome computation, ranking equally different artificial hands. As the index was primarily proposed for prosthetic hands, normally used as nondominant hands in unilateral amputees, the grasp types selected for the human grasp experiment were the most relevant for the human nondominant hand to reinforce bimanual grasping in activities of daily living. However, it was shown that the effect of using the grasping information from the dominant hand is small, indicating that the index is also valid for evaluating the artificial hand as dominant and so being valid for bilateral amputees or robotic hands

Prioritized independent contact regions for form closure grasps

Proceedings of: 2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS'11), September 25-30, 2011, San Francisco, USAThe concept of independent contact regions on a target object’s surface, in order to compensate for shortcomings in the positioning accuracy of robotic grasping devices, is well known. However, the numbers and distributions of contact points forming such regions is not unique and depends on the underlying computational method. In this work we present a computation scheme allowing to prioritize contact points for inclusion in the independent regions. This enables a user to affect their shape in order to meet the demands of the targeted application. The introduced method utilizes frictionless contact constraints and is able to efficiently approximate the space of disturbances resistible by all grasps comprising contacts within the independent regions.European Community's Seventh Framework ProgramThis research has been partially supported by the HANDLE project, funded by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement ICT 231640

Dynamic grasping of objects with a high-speed parallel robot

Underactuated grippers aim to simplify the control strategies for performing stable grasps due to their inherent shape adaptability. While at the beginning, the main research area was focused on developing human-like robotic hands for disabled people, in the last years, a new eld of application appeared with the constant evolution of the industry: the implementation of a single underactuated gripper as a replacement of diverse dedicated fully-actuated grippers. However, two main issues are restraining its use: the stability of the grasp and the speed of performance. The rst is an active topic as all underactuated grippers need to ensure the stability of the grasped object through an adequate kinematic design, while, the latter is not widely treated as there weren't many application elds where high-speed was required and, at the end, the quasi-static analysis must be also ensured. For this reason, the present research work has been focused on the speed of the grasping. In the rst place, an introduction to underactuated hands is made, and is followed by two main stability criteria. Then, the development of a model for an underactuated nger that allows analyzing the complete grasping sequence at high-speed along with a collision model are presented. Following, a design-based analysis to simplify the model is performed, and the graspstate volume tool is introduced in order to inspect the impact of the design variables on the proposed criteria. In the last chapter, an optimization over the design space is performed and a design is chosen, crosschecked with ADAMS software and prototyped. Finally, an overview remarking the strengths and gaps in the research is presented in the form of conclusions, and closing them, future works that could be interesting to develop

Dynamic whole-body motion generation under rigid contacts and other unilateral constraints

The most widely used technique for generating wholebody motions on a humanoid robot accounting for various tasks and constraints is inverse kinematics. Based on the task-function approach, this class of methods enables the coordination of robot movements to execute several tasks in parallel and account for the sensor feedback in real time, thanks to the low computation cost. To some extent, it also enables us to deal with some of the robot constraints (e.g., joint limits or visibility) and manage the quasi-static balance of the robot. In order to fully use the whole range of possible motions, this paper proposes extending the task-function approach to handle the full dynamics of the robot multibody along with any constraint written as equality or inequality of the state and control variables. The definition of multiple objectives is made possible by ordering them inside a strict hierarchy. Several models of contact with the environment can be implemented in the framework. We propose a reduced formulation of the multiple rigid planar contact that keeps a low computation cost. The efficiency of this approach is illustrated by presenting several multicontact dynamic motions in simulation and on the real HRP-2 robot

Control of Rolling Contacts in Multi-Arm Manipulation

When multiple arms are used to manipulate a large object, it is beneficial and sometimes necessary to maintain and control contacts between the object and the effector (the contacting surface of an arm) through force closure. Rolling and/or sliding can occur at these contacts, and the system is characterized by holonomic as well as nonholonomic (including unilateral) constraints. In this paper, the control of planar rolling contacts is investigated. Multi-arm manipulation systems are typically redundant. In our approach, a minimal set of inputs is employed to control the trajectory of the system while the surplus inputs control the contact condition. The trajectory includes the gross motion of the object as well as the rolling motion at the contacts. A nonlinear feedback scheme for simultaneous control of motion as well as contact conditions is presented. A new algorithm which adapts a two-effector grasp with rolling contacts to external loads and the trajectory is developed. Simulations and experimental results are used to illustrate the salient features in control and planning

On Grasp Quality Measures: Grasp Robustness and Contact Force Distribution in Underactuated and Compliant Robotic Hands

The availability of grasp quality measures is fundamental for grasp planning and control, and also to drive designers in the definition and optimization of robotic hands. This work investigates on grasp robustness and quality indexes that can be applied to power grasps with underactuated and compliant hands. When dealing with such types of hands, there is the need of an evaluation method that takes into account the forces that can be actually controlled by the hand, depending on its actuation system. In this paper, we study the potential contact robustness and the potential grasp robustness (PCR, PGR) indexes. They both consider main grasp properties: contact points, friction coefficient, etc., but also hand degrees of freedom and consequently, the directions of controllable contact forces. The PCR comes directly from the classical grasp theory and can be easily evaluated, but often leads to too conservative solutions, particularly when the grasp has many contacts. The PGR is more complex and computationally heavier, but gives a more realistic, even if still conservative, estimation of the overall grasp robustness, also in power grasps. We evaluated the indexes for various simulated grasps, performed with underactuated and compliant hands, and we analyzed their variations with respect to the main grasp parameters

Neuroplastic Changes Following Brain Ischemia and their Contribution to Stroke Recovery: Novel Approaches in Neurorehabilitation

Ischemic damage to the brain triggers substantial reorganization of spared areas and pathways, which is associated with limited, spontaneous restoration of function. A better understanding of this plastic remodeling is crucial to develop more effective strategies for stroke rehabilitation. In this review article, we discuss advances in the comprehension of post-stroke network reorganization in patients and animal models. We first focus on rodent studies that have shed light on the mechanisms underlying neuronal remodeling in the perilesional area and contralesional hemisphere after motor cortex infarcts. Analysis of electrophysiological data has demonstrated brain-wide alterations in functional connectivity in both hemispheres, well beyond the infarcted area. We then illustrate the potential use of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques to boost recovery. We finally discuss rehabilitative protocols based on robotic devices as a tool to promote endogenous plasticity and functional restoration

The PrHand: Functional Assessment of an Underactuated Soft-Robotic Prosthetic Hand

Functional tests aim to compare the functionality of a prosthesis with a human hand. The main objective of this work is to present and evaluate an affordable prosthesis (PrHand) built with soft robotic technologies and novel joints based on compliant mechanisms. Two functional tests have been selected in this work. The first is the AHAP protocol, which evaluates how the prosthesis performs eight different grips; three variables are considered: grasping, maintaining, and grasping ability score (GAS). The results were 69.03% with 57.77% in grasping and 80.28% in maintaining. The second test is the AM-ULA, which evaluates the prosthesis by performing 23 Activities of Daily Living. PrHand prosthesis had a score of 2.5 over 4.0. The functionality of the PrHand prosthesis has similar results to other prostheses evaluated in the literature. The comparison with the human hand was 69%. PrHand presents a promising solution for amputees in developing countries regarding cost and functionalit

Human Hand Motion Analysis and Synthesis of Optimal Power Grasps for a Robotic Hand

Biologically inspired robotic systems can find important applications in biomedical robotics, since studying and replicating human behaviour can provide new insights into motor recovery, functional substitution and human-robot interaction. The analysis of human hand motion is essential for collecting information about human hand movements useful for generalizing reaching and grasping actions on a robotic system. This paper focuses on the definition and extraction of quantitative indicators for describing optimal hand grasping postures and replicating them on an anthropomorphic robotic hand. A motion analysis has been carried out on six healthy human subjects performing a transverse volar grasp. The extracted indicators point to invariant grasping behaviours between the involved subjects, thus providing some constraints for identifying the optimal grasping configuration. Hence, an optimization algorithm based on the Nelder-Mead simplex method has been developed for determining the optimal grasp configuration of a robotic hand, grounded on the aforementioned constraints. It is characterized by a reduced computational cost. The grasp stability has been tested by introducing a quality index that satisfies the form-closure property. The grasping strategy has been validated by means of simulation tests and experimental trials on an arm-hand robotic system. The obtained results have shown the effectiveness of the extracted indicators to reduce the non-linear optimization problem complexity and lead to the synthesis of a grasping posture able to replicate the human behaviour while ensuring grasp stability. The experimental results have also highlighted the limitations of the adopted robotic platform (mainly due to the mechanical structure) to achieve the optimal grasp configuration

\u3cem\u3eGRASP News\u3c/em\u3e, Volume 8, Number 1

A report of the General Robotics and Active Sensory Perception (GRASP) Laboratory. Edited by Thomas Lindsay