This research project will investigate the coordination of two physically-coupled human arms and two artificial arms in cooperative manipulation tasks. The project will focus on the interaction when there is physical contact between the two arms. The mechanisms underlying the generation of trajectories and the interaction forces and moments of two human arms will be studied. The investigators also will develop control algorithms that would specify the motion and forces of two artificial manipulators during the performance of similar coordinated tasks. This research is important since the understanding of coordinated reaching and manipulation by humans will be advanced. In addition, the research will improve the control algorithms for coordinated multi-robotic reaching and grasping.
