Human kinematic factor for haptic manipulation : the wrist to thumb

The range of human kinematic motion as well as force resolution should be known for design of a haptic device. In addition, a haptic interface can be designed more easily when master and slave devices are the same kinematically. However, human kinematic factors have not been analyzed and applied deeply because of their complexity. Although calibration techniques have been developed, there is a limit to describe the dexterous motion. In this paper haptic manipulation which uses the tactile sensing more often than the visual sensing is defined and analyzed. During haptic manipulation, thumb and the wrist are the most important. The thumb model described has only two variables to be calibrated and successfully expresses opposition which is a unique thumb motion of human. Through this model, the workspace of thumb and three finger grasping haptic manipulation are determined. Especially, this result can be a criterion to design a haptic device which expresses human dexterous motion.