Table Of ContentSpringer Tracts in Advanced Robotics 145
Giuseppe Averta
Human-Aware
Robotics: Modeling
Human Motor Skills
for the Design,
Planning and Control
of a New Generation
of Robotic Devices
Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics
Volume 145
SeriesEditors
BrunoSiciliano,DipartimentodiIngegneriaElettricaeTecnologie
dell’Informazione,UniversitàdegliStudidiNapoliFedericoII,Napoli,Italy
OussamaKhatib,ArtificialIntelligenceLaboratory,DepartmentofComputer
Science,StanfordUniversity,Stanford,CA,USA
AdvisoryEditors
NancyAmato,ComputerScience&Engineering,TexasA&MUniversity,College
Station,TX,USA
OliverBrock,FakultätIV,TUBerlin,Berlin,Germany
HermanBruyninckx,KULeuven,Heverlee,Belgium
WolframBurgard,InstituteofComputerScience,UniversityofFreiburg,Freiburg,
Baden-Württemberg,Germany
RajaChatila,ISIR,Pariscedex05,France
FrancoisChaumette,IRISA/INRIA,Rennes,Ardennes,France
WanKyunChung,RoboticsLaboratory,MechanicalEngineering,POSTECH,
Pohang,Korea(Republicof)
PeterCorke,QueenslandUniversityofTechnology,Brisbane,QLD,Australia
PaoloDario,LEM,ScuolaSuperioreSant’Anna,Pisa,Italy
AlessandroDeLuca,DIAGAR,SapienzaUniversitàdiRoma,Roma,Italy
RüdigerDillmann,HumanoidsandIntelligenceSystemsLab,KIT-Karlsruher
InstitutfürTechnologie,Karlsruhe,Germany
KenGoldberg,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,CA,USA
JohnHollerbach,SchoolofComputing,UniversityofUtah,SaltLake,UT,USA
LydiaE.Kavraki,DepartmentofComputerScience,RiceUniversity,Houston,TX,
USA
VijayKumar,SchoolofEngineeringandAppliedMechanics,Universityof
Pennsylvania,Philadelphia,PA,USA
BradleyJ.Nelson,InstituteofRoboticsandIntelligentSystems,ETHZurich,
Zürich,Switzerland
FrankChongwooPark,MechanicalEngineeringDepartment,SeoulNational
University,Seoul,Korea(Republicof)
S.E.Salcudean,TheUniversityofBritishColumbia,Vancouver,BC,Canada
RolandSiegwart,LEEJ205,ETHZürich,InstituteofRobotics&Autonomous
SystemsLab,Zürich,Switzerland
GauravS.Sukhatme,DepartmentofComputerScience,UniversityofSouthern
California,LosAngeles,CA,USA
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Giuseppe Averta
Human-Aware Robotics:
Modeling Human Motor
Skills for the Design,
Planning and Control
of a New Generation
of Robotic Devices
GiuseppeAverta
ResearchCenterE.Piaggio
UniversityofPisa
Pisa,Italy
ISSN1610-7438 ISSN1610-742X (electronic)
SpringerTractsinAdvancedRobotics
ISBN978-3-030-92520-8 ISBN978-3-030-92521-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92521-5
©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNature
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TomysweetandstrongManuela,lightofmy
life,
Tomyfamily,helmofmyjourney,
Tothesurroundingworld,forbeingamazing.
Foreword
Atthedawnofthecentury’sthirddecade,roboticsisreachinganelevatedlevelof
maturityandcontinuestobenefitfromtheadvancesandinnovationsinitsenabling
technologies.Theseallarecontributingtoanunprecedentedefforttobringingrobots
to human environment in hospitals and homes, factories, and schools; in the field
for robots fighting fires, making goods and products, picking fruits, and watering
the farmland, saving time and lives. Robots today hold the promise for making
a considerable impact in a wide range of real-world applications from industrial
manufacturingtohealthcare,transportation,andexplorationofthedeepspaceand
sea.Tomorrow,robotswillbecomepervasiveandtouchuponmanyaspectsofmodern
life.
TheSpringerTractsinAdvancedRobotics(STAR)isdevotedtobringingtothe
research community the latest advances in the robotics field on the basis of their
significanceandquality.Throughawideandtimelydisseminationofcriticalresearch
developmentsinrobotics,ourobjectivewiththisseriesistopromotemoreexchanges
andcollaborationsamongtheresearchersinthecommunityandcontributetofurther
advancementsinthisrapidlygrowingfield.
ThemonographbyGiuseppeAvertaisbasedontheauthor’sdoctoralthesis.The
contents are focused on human-aware robotics and are organized into three parts.
Thecomplexityofhumanmotiongenerationisdiscussedinthefirstpart.Then,the
modeling tools to describe human motor skills are used for the design of nature-
inspiredprosthesesandtheassessmentofmotionimpairmentinthesecondpart.The
third part is devoted to presenting planning and control techniques for cobots and
autonomousrobots.
Richofexamplesdevelopedbymeansofextensiveexperimentationonhumans
androbots,thisvolumewastheco-winnerofthe2021GeorgesGiraltPh.D.Award
forthebestdoctoralthesisinEurope.AveryfineadditiontotheSTARseries!
Naples,Italy BrunoSiciliano
September2021 STAREditor
vii
Acknowledgements
The work summarized in this book is the result of almost four years of research
conductedbetween2016and2020attheResearchCenterE.PiaggioandtheDepart-
mentofInformationEngineeringoftheUniversityofPisa,andattheSoftRobotics
forHumanCooperationandRehabilitationLaboftheItalianInstituteofTechnology
inGenova.
Iwouldliketoacknowledge,inthefirstplace,theamazingfamilythatlivesacross
thetwolabs,thatmotivated,supported,andenabledthisachievement.
ThefirstandmostimportantsupportersareProf.AntonioBicchi,andProf.Matteo
Bianchi, to whom I am deeply grateful. The timely suggestions, the constructive
criticisms,thetextre-written,theideas,thecoffees,and,mostimportantly,thehonest
andfriendlyrelationship,createdaperfecthumusformyresearch.Iwouldlikealso
to express my utmost gratitude to Prof. Neville Hogan, who welcomed me in his
academicfamilywhenIwasafreshandmotivatedvisitingPhDstudentatMIT,for
teachingmeadifferentwaytodoresearch.Ihopetohonoryoursuggestionsinmy
career.
Thanksalsotoallthefriendsthatworkedwithme,coauthoredmymanuscripts,
andsharedpartofthejourney.ToCosimoandEdoardo,forintroducingmetothis
adventure.TotheFedericas2,Vincenzo,Franco,theSimones2,Gemma,andmany
more, who represented an amazing source of inspiration, fruitful discussion, and
deservedrelax.
Lastbutnotleast,Iwouldliketoacknowledgemyfamily.First,mywifeManuela,
loveofmylife,thathasbeenthefirstbelieverofmyabilities,waymorethanmyself.
ToCarmelaandLuigi,fortheiroutstandingsupport,andfortheirlove,ingoodand
badtimes.ToCarolinaandFiorella,fortheirbeingfamily,andmostimportantly,for
theirphotoswhenIgethome.And,ofcourse,toalltheothersthatIdidnotmention
here,Iamproudofbeingpartofthis.
ix
x Acknowledgements
Finally, let me thank the European Community and the European Research
Council for their the generous funding of my work, provided by the European
projects:SoMa,SoftPro,Sophia,Darko,NaturalBionicS.
Pisa,Italy GiuseppeAverta
October2021
Contents
1 Introduction .................................................. 1
1.1 HowDoWeMove?AVeryBriefHistoricalOverview ......... 1
1.2 HumanMotorControl .................................... 4
1.2.1 IsMotionaReflexoranActiveProcess? ............. 4
1.3 TheProblemofDimensionalityReduction ................... 7
1.4 The Implication for Robotics and the Advancement
ofTechnologies .......................................... 10
1.5 OpenQuestionsandProposedSolutions ..................... 11
1.6 ContentsoftheMonograph ................................ 13
1.6.1 Novelties ........................................ 15
References .................................................... 16
PartI TamingtheComplexityofHumanMotionGeneration
2 UnderstandingthePrincipalModesofNaturalMovements
inTemporalDomain ........................................... 25
2.1 Introduction ............................................. 25
2.2 ExperimentalProtocolandSetup ........................... 27
2.2.1 ASetofDailyLivingTasks ........................ 27
2.2.2 AnExperimentalSetupforDataAcquisition .......... 27
2.3 MotionIdentification ..................................... 28
2.3.1 ModelingofUpperLimbKinematics ................ 28
2.3.2 ModelParameters ................................. 29
2.3.3 MarkersModeling ................................ 30
2.3.4 ModelCalibrationandAnglesEstimation ............ 31
2.3.5 ExperimentalResults .............................. 32
2.4 DataAnalysis ............................................ 33
2.4.1 Segmentation .................................... 33
2.4.2 TimeWarping .................................... 34
2.4.3 PrincipalComponentAnalysis ...................... 35
xi
