Human Dexterity and Motor Control

Note: this work was done by our friend and colleague Paul Michelman, who passed away unexpectedly on June 30, 2000.

Contact: Peter Allen<allen@cs.columbia.edu>


In parallel with work in robot dexterity, we are studying models of human dexterity and motor control in collaboration with Randall Flanagan (Teachers College, New York, N.Y.). This work focuses on several areas, primarily (1) studying grip force modulation under different conditions and object geometries and (2) analyzing the kinematics and grip forces on objects during human precision manipulation. There have been surprisingly few studies of human manipulation strategies as most attention has been directed to reach and grasping analyses. Our hope is to develop greater understanding of human manipulation through constrained psychophysical studies and motion analysis.


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