Abstract: Currently, there are numerous systems and models for the upper human body that aim, in some cases, to enhance object grasping and, in others, to perform repetitive grasping in manufacturing operations or loading and unloading processes within the industrial sector. On the other hand, there is the sophistication of robotic hands (a term used here to generalize the concept), which feature varying numbers of degrees of freedom and control systems of differing complexity for these degrees of freedom. But what happens when a hand disability arises, such as one caused by a stroke or paraplegia? In these instances, replacing the hand is unnecessary; instead, the priority is the restoration of hand functionality, with the goal of enabling the affected individual to carry out daily life activities as normally as possible.

Indeed, for all these scenarios, the most thorough understanding possible of the human hand is essential. To this end, the academic literature already includes several proposals for virtual models of the human hand. What is presented here is the outcome of several years of research on this topic: a proposed virtual model of the human hand featuring 29 degrees of freedom for the hand itself, plus an additional 9 degrees of freedom for the wrist.

Through the simulation of the human hand, the aim is twofold: on one hand, to provide tools for physicians and physiotherapists, enabling them to design personalized rehabilitation systems; on the other hand, to develop more accurate robotic hand models.

Biography: 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. This group has published articles in magazines and congresses and owns two patents relating to medical apparatus. Esteban Peña Pitarch belongs to the Service and Industrial Robotics (SIR) research team and is currently working on two competitive projects as the main researcher of one and collaborating in the other. 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. Research interests are in Virtual Human Modeling, Rehabilitation, and Human Exoskeleton Construction.