Multijoint arm control: beyond reaching

Abstract

We present a set of recent results on the control of movements in which the hand interacts with force fields that simulate the presence of dynamical objects and of surface boundaries. These experiments exploit the possibility of using human/robot interactions for exploring if and how the smoothness is enforced by the adaptive control system. We conclude that a) subjects learn to generate smooth motion of transported objects and that b) significant exceptions to smooth motions are observed in hand movements over curved boundaries.