Development of a Measurement System for Manipulative Motion of Human Fingers

Abstract

Measurement system for manipulative motion of human fingers is presented. A human subject wears several clip-on devices on the back of the fingers. Each device has a short stem extending outward from a finger with a light emitter at its end. A stereo vision system measures the three dimensional positions of the light emitters. The positions and the orientations of the fingers are calculated from the light emitters' positions using a kinematic model of the fingers. The protruding stems on the back of the fingers reduce occlusion caused by other fingers. Selection of the stem length, calibration method, and two examples of measurement of manipulation are presented. The overall accuracy of the system was 0.3 to 0.8 mm.