Abstract
Based on the anatomy of the hand, we will design a hand with 29 degrees of freedom (DOF), with four of these degrees located in the carpometacarpal joint for the ring and small fingers. These four degrees permit the simulation of the human hand when it is arched. The thumb was designed with 9 DOF, the index and middle fingers have 4 DOF, in the metacarpophalangeal joint has two, and in the proximal interphalangeal joint and in the distal interphalangeal joint each have one. For the ring and small fingers, the 4 DOF are in similar joints plus as the four described above. The Denavit-Hartenberg (D-H) method was applied because each finger was considered a ray, i.e., an open chain, with joints approximated to revolute joints. We will apply to simulate in patients’ post-stroke.
Bio
Esteban Peña Pitarch holds a doctorate in the UPC. He has carried out his teaching work at the Technical College of Manresa (EPSEM), since 1988 and belongs to the department of mechanical engineering. He collaborates with the Institute of Industrial and Control Engineering (IOC), UPC, since 2008, in the robotics division. His research is focused on rehabilitation and simulation of stroke survivors, the creation of medical devices and the application of kinematics and dynamics to the human body by way of mathematical tools used in robotics. He manages a group with doctors specialized in physical medicine, rehabilitation, and engineers from a number of different fields. He is a professor and ex-dean of college Escola Politècnica Superior d'Enginyeria de Manresa (EPSEM) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). His teaching expertise are in Kinematics and Dynamics, and Machinery Design for Undergraduate and Graduate degree for more than 30 years. He has two patents and more than 100 papers on international journals and conferences.