Developing Models for Predicting Physiologically Impaired Arm Reaching Paths

Authors: Nina Robson, Kenneth John Faller II, Vishalkumar Ahir, Mustafa Mhawesh, Reza Langari

Abstract:

This paper describes the development of a model of an impaired human arm performing a reaching motion, which will be used to predict hand path trajectories for people with reduced arm joint mobility. Assuming that the arm was in contact with a surface during the entire movement, the contact conditions at the initial and final task locations were determined and used to generate the entire trajectory. The model was validated by comparing it to experimental data, which simulated an arm joint impairment by physically constraining the joint motion with a brace. Future research will include using the model in the development of physical training protocols that avoid early recruitment of “healthy” Degrees-Of-Freedom (DOF) for reaching motions, thus facilitating an Active Range-Of-Motion Recovery (AROM) for a particular impaired joint.

Keywords: Higher order kinematic specifications, human motor coordination, impaired movement, kinematic synthesis.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1129547

References:

[1] X. Zhang, P. Braido, S. W. Lee, R. Hefner, and M. Redden, “A Normative Database of Thumb Circumduction In Vivo: Center of Rotation and Range of Motion,” Hum. Factors, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 550–561, 2005.
[2] G. Stillfried and P. van der Smagt, “Movement Model of a Human Hand Based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI),” in the 1st International Conference on Applied Bionics and Biomechanics (ICABB), 2010.
[3] N. Robson and G. S. Soh, “Geometric Design of Eight-Bar Wearable Devices based on Limb Physiological Contact Task,” Mech. Mach. Theory, vol. 100, pp. 358–367, 2016.
[4] N. Robson and S. Ghosh, “Geometric Design of Planar Mechanisms Based on Virtual Guides for Manipulation,” Robotica, pp. 1–16, 2015.
[5] N. Robson and G. S. Soh, “Dimensional Synthesis of a Passive Eight-bar Slider Exo-Limb for Grasping Tasks,” in ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences, 2016, p. (Accepted).
[6] N. Robson, “Geometric Design of Mechanical Linkages for Contact Specifications,” University of California, Irvine, 2008.
[7] N. Robson, J. M. McCarthy, and I. Tumer, “Exploring New Strategies for Failure Recovery of Crippled Robot Manipulators,” in ASME/IFToMM International Conference on Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots (ReMAR), 2009, pp. 656–664.
[8] N. Robson and J. M. McCarthy, “Applications of the Geometric Design of Mechanical Linkages with Task Acceleration Specifications,” in ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (IDETC/CIE), 2009, pp. 1105–1114.
[9] J. Verschelde, “Algorithm 795: Phcpack: A General-Purpose Solver for Polynomial Systems by Homotopy Continuation,” ACM Trans. Math. Softw., vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 251–276, 1999.
[10] J. J. Craig, Introduction to Robotics: Mechanics and Control, vol. 3. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005.
[11] J. M. McCarthy, Geometric Design of Linkages, vol. 11. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media, 2006.
[12] J. M. McCarthy, “Mechanism Synthesis Theory and the Design of Robots,” in IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2000, vol. 1, pp. 55–60.
[13] H.-J. Su, C. W. Wampler, and J. M. McCarthy, “Geometric Design of Cylindric PRS Serial Chains,” J. Mech. Des., vol. 126, no. 2, pp. 269–277, 2004.
[14] H. Moon, N. P. Robson, R. Langari, and J. J. Buchanan, “Experimental Observations on the Central Nervous System’s Governing Strategies on the Arm Reaching with Reduced Mobility,” in ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), 2012, pp. 483–492.
[15] X. Wang, “Three-Dimensional Kinematic Analysis of Influence of Hand Orientation and Joint Limits on the Control of Arm Postures and Movements,” Biol. Cybern., vol. 80, no. 6, pp. 449–463, 1999.
[16] H. Moon, N. P. Robson, and R. Langari, “Approximating Constrained Hand Paths via Kinematic Synthesis with Contact Specifications,” in Advances in Robot Kinematics, New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media, 2014, pp. 375–384.
[17] N. Robson and A. Tolety, “Geometric Design of Spherical Serial Chains with Curvature Constraints in the Environment,” in ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (IDETC/CIE), 2011, pp. 289–295.
[18] N. Robson and J. M. McCarthy, “Synthesis of a Spatial SS Serial Chain for a Prescribed Acceleration Task,” in the 12th World Congress on Mechanism and Machine Science (IFToMM), 2007.
[19] H. Moon, N. P. Robson, R. Langari, and J. J. Buchanan, “Experimental Observations on the Human Arm Motion Planning Under an Elbow Joint Constraint,” in International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS), 2012, pp. 3870–3873.
[20] H. Moon, N. Hoang, N. P. Robson, and R. Langari, “Human Arm Motion Planning Against a Joint Constraint,” in the 4th IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob), 2012, pp. 401–406.
[21] H. Moon, N. P. Robson, R. Langari, and S. Shin, “An Experimental Study on Redundancy Resolution Scheme of Postural Configuration in Human Arm Reaching with an Elbow Joint Kinematic Constraint,” in the 2nd Middle East Conference on Biomedical Engineering (MECBE), 2014, pp. 257–260.