Kinematic Modeling of Distal Radioulnar Joint for Human Forearm Rotation

Abstract

This paper presents the kinematic modeling of the human forearm rotation constructed with a spatial four-bar linkage. Especially, a circumduction of the distal ulna is modeled for a minimal displacement of the position of the hand during the forearm rotation from the supination to the pronation. To establish its model, four joint types of the four-bar linkage are, firstly, assigned with the reasonable grounds, and then the spatial linkage having the URUU (Universal-Revolute-Universal-Universal) joint type is proposed. Kinematic analysis is conducted to show the behavior of the distal radio-ulna as well as to evaluate the angular displacements of all the joints. From the simulation result, it is, finally, revealed that the URUU spatial linkage can be substituted for the URUR (Universal-Revolute-Universal-Revolute) spatial linkage by a kinematic constraint