Biomechanics and Ergonomics

The two main objectives of this project are: 1) analyze the human grasp in real daily life activities and determine the frequency with which each type of grip is presented, 2) characterize, from a biomechanical point of view, a number of characteristic grips presented in daily activities. The first goal is addressed through field work involving filming various typical activities at home, the subsequent classification of grips used and finally the statistical analysis of the data to determine the frequency of each type of grip and its relationship to several household activities. The second objective is addressed through a combined methodology: experimental and using simulation models. On the one hand, the most typical grips will be reproduced in laboratory (several times and by several subjects) for measurement of objective biomechanical parameters (relative position arm-hand-object, number of fingers involved, angles in the joints of the hand, hand-object points of contact, contact pressures) and subsequent statistical analysis to characterize each of the grips. On the other hand we will use a biomechanical model of the hand developed in the research group to simulate the grips and determine distribution of muscular activities involved in them, information of great interest to understand the grasping process.