Kinematic motion analysis of the human arm during a manipulation task

Research in the field of human kinematic analysis has gained interest in recent years and has fostered new ideas and expectations. Next generations of manipulators are expected to resemble a human-like behaviour at kinematic level, in order to avoid any unease or discomfort (like fear or shock) to the nearby humans. Robot manufactures are in fact already putting on the market kinematically redundant manipulators that guarantee high levels of dexterity and a more flexible motion planning. In this paper, a kinematic experimental approach to study the motion of the human arm will be presented. In particular, the proposed scenario will be used to study how humans exploit the kinematic redundancy of their arm, for a future use in a robotic controller.