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This paper investigates the kinematics and the optimization of a generic robotic structure composed by N serial rotary joints and actuated with a mono-directional tendon system. In the first part of the paper, the specific case that brought us to develop this study is introduced; the main motivations and the scenario with its specific constraints and design choices have been described.Since a complete and detailed analysis of an n-R serial structure with this kind of characteristics could not be found in the literature, the study of the kinematics and the parameter optimization of such a structure is treated as generally as possible, in order to make the procedure and the results applicable for any similar structure. Finally, in the last part, through the introduction of specific constraints and the definition of the parameters, the general analysis has been applied to the specific case of study: the preliminary study of a finger exoskeleton for an astronaut suit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last few years, the number of projects studying the human hand from the robotic point of view has increased rapidly, due to the growing interest in academic and industrial applications. Nevertheless, the complexity of the human hand given its large number of degrees of freedom (DoF) within a significantly reduced space requires an exhaustive analysis, before proposing any applications. The aim of this paper is to provide a complete summary of the kinematic and dynamic characteristics of the human hand as a preliminary step towards the development of hand devices such as prosthetic/robotic hands and exoskeletons imitating the human hand shape and functionality. A collection of data and constraints relevant to hand movements is presented, and the direct and inverse kinematics are solved for all the fingers as well as the dynamics; anthropometric data and dynamics equations allow performing simulations to understand the behavior of the finger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the movement of the hand from sEMG signals acquired on the forearm is key in the development of future prosthetics of the upper limb. Despite the technical advancement on this technique, state of the art of sEMG still relies strongly on optimal electrode placement which is typically performed by a specialist by mean of a heuristic search. Involving a specialist has few major disadvantages including high costs and relatively long schedules. This work searches an optimal electrode configuration which could reduce or avoid the intervention of a specialist. More than 200 different possible electrode configurations were assessed by means of the average recognition rate over 11 different movements of the hand, wrist, and fingers. It is shown that using two rows of 8 equally spaced electrodes around the circumference of the forearm could be an optimal trade-off solution to accomplish the task of recognizing hand movement (ARR = 92%) without the need for a specialist or very complex hardware.