@article {2814, title = {Asymmetric Bimanual Coordinate Control of Dual-Arm Exoskeleton Robots for Human Cooperative Manipulations}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Robotics}, volume = {34}, year = {2017}, month = {11/2017}, chapter = {264}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1109/TRO.2017.2765334}, url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8103340}, author = {Z. Li and Z. Chen and A. Ajoudani and C. Yang and C. Su and A. Bicchi} } @conference {3106, title = {Design of an Under-Actuated Wrist Based on Adaptive Synergies}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference of Robotics and Automation, ICRA2017}, year = {2017}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Singapore, 29 May-3 June 2017}, abstract = {

An effective robotic wrist represents a key enabling element in robotic manipulation, especially in prosthetics. In this paper, we propose an under-actuated wrist system, which is also adaptable and allows to implement different under-actuation schemes. Our approach leverages upon the idea of soft synergies - in particular the design method of adaptive synergies - as it derives from the field of robot hand design. First we introduce the design principle and its implementation and function in a configurable test bench prototype, which can be used to demonstrate the feasibility of our idea. Furthermore, we report on results from preliminary experiments with humans, aiming to identify the most probable wrist pose during the pre-grasp phase in activities of daily living. Based on these outcomes, we calibrate our wrist prototype accordingly and demonstrate its effectiveness to accomplish grasping and manipulation tasks.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/ICRA.2017.7989789}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7989789/}, author = {S. Casini and V. Tincani and G. Averta and M. Poggiani and C. Della Santina and E. Battaglia and M. G. Catalano and M. Bianchi and G. Grioli and A. Bicchi} } @article {3214, title = { Enhancing Adaptive Grasping Through a Simple Sensor-Based Reflex Mechanism }, journal = {IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters}, volume = {2}, year = {2017}, month = {07/2017}, pages = {1664 - 1671}, abstract = {

This paper presents an approach to achieve adaptive grasp of unknown objects whose position is only approximately known via point-cloud data. We exploit the adaptability of a soft robotic hand which can autonomously conform to the shape of a grasped object if properly approached. Once a grasp approach has been preliminarily planned based only on rough estimates of the object position, the hand is shaped to a pregrasp configuration. Before closing the hand, a sensor-based algorithm is applied that corrects the relative hand-object posture so as to enhance the probability that the object is uniformly approached by all fingers, thus avoiding undesired premature contacts. The algorithm minimizes the distance between the hand{\textquoteright}s fingerpads and the object by continuously controlling both the wrist pose and orientation and the hand closure. Experimental studies with a Kuka-LWR arm and a Pisa/IIT Softhand illustrate the benefit of the developed technique and the improvement in grasping performance with respect to open-loop execution of grasps planned on the basis of prior RGB-D cues only.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/LRA.2017.2681122}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7875417/}, author = {Luberto, E. and Y. Wu and G. Santaera and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @article {3309, title = {Grasp Performance of a Soft Synergy-Based Prosthetic Hand: A Pilot Study}, journal = { IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering}, volume = {25}, year = {2017}, month = {12/2017}, pages = {2407 - 2417}, abstract = {

Current prosthetic hands are frequently rejected in part due to limited functionality and versatility. We assessed the feasibility of a novel prosthetic hand, the SoftHand Pro (SHP), whose design combines soft robotics and hand postural synergies. Able-bodied subjects (n = 23) tracked cursor motion by opening and closing the SHP and performed a grasp-lift-hold-release (GLHR) task with a sensorized cylindrical object of variable weight. The SHP control was driven by electromyographic (EMG) signals from two antagonistic muscles. Although the time to perform the GLHR task was longer for the SHP than native hand for the first few trials (10.2 {\textpm} 1.4 s and 2.13 {\textpm} 0.09 s, respectively), performance was much faster on subsequent trials (~5 s). The SHP steady-state grip force was significantly modulated as a function of object weight (p \<; 0.001). For the native hand, however, peak and steady-state grip forces were modulated to a greater extent (+68\% and +91\%, respectively). These changes were mediated by the modulation of EMG amplitude and co-contraction. These data suggest that the SHP has a promise for prosthetic applications and point-to-design modifications that could improve the SHP.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, issn = {1534-4320}, doi = {10.1109/TNSRE.2017.2737539}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=8094246}, author = {A. S. Gailey and Godfrey, S.B. and R. Breighner and K. Andrews and K. Zhao and A. Bicchi and M. Santello} } @article {2841, title = {An Integrated Approach to Characterize the Behavior of a Human Fingertip in Contact with a Silica Window}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Haptics}, volume = {10}, year = {2017}, month = {01/2017}, pages = {123-129}, abstract = {

Understanding the mechanisms of human tactual perception represents a challenging task in haptics and humanoid robotics. A classic approach to tackle this issue is to accurately and exhaustively characterize the mechanical behavior of human fingertip. The output of this characterization can then be exploited to drive the design of numerical models, which can be used to investigate in depth the mechanisms of human sensing. In this work, we present a novel integrated measurement technique and experimental set up for in vivo characterization of the deformation of the human fingertip at contact, in terms of contact area, force, deformation, and pressure distribution. The device presented here compresses the participant{\textquoteright}s fingertip against a flat surface, while the aforementioned measurements are acquired and experimental parameters such as velocity, finger orientation, and displacement (indentation) controlled. Experimental outcomes are then compared and integrated with the output of a 3D finite element (FE) model of the human fingertip, built upon existing validated models. The agreement between numerical and experimental data represents a validation for our approach.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, issn = {1939-1412}, doi = { 10.1109/TOH.2016.2614679}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=7579582}, author = {M. L. D{\textquoteright}Angelo and F. Cannella and M. Bianchi and M. D{\textquoteright}Imperio and E. Battaglia and M. Poggiani and G. Rossi and A. Bicchi and D. G. Caldwell} } @article {3138, title = {Online Model Based Estimation of Complete Joint Stiffness of Human Arm}, journal = {IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters}, volume = {3}, year = {2017}, month = {01/2018}, pages = {84 - 91}, abstract = {

The endpoint stiffness of the human arm has been long recognized as a key component ensuring the quasi-static stability of the arm physical interactions with the external world. Similarly, the understanding of the joint stiffness behavior can provide complementary insights, e.g., on the underlying stiffness regulation principles across different joints including the nullspace stiffness profiles. Traditionally, the experimental modeling and estimation of the human arm joint stiffness is achieved by the transformation of the identified arm endpoint stiffness to the joint coordinates. Due to the underlying kinematic redundancy, the obtained joint stiffness matrix is rank-deficient which implies that the information in the joint stiffness matrix is incomplete. While in robotics applications this issue can be addressed by designing a desired nullspace stiffness behavior through appropriate projections, the use of a similar technique in the identification of human joint stiffness profile is meaningless. Hence, the first objective of this work is to address this issue by developing a novel technique to identify the complete and physiologically meaningful joint stiffness of human arm. Second, we present a model-based online estimation technique to estimate the seven-dimensional complete joint stiffness in various arm poses and activation levels of the two dominant arm muscles that correspond to the geometric and volume modifications of the joint stiffness profile, respectively.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/LRA.2017.2731524}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7990237/}, author = {C. Fang and A. Ajoudani and A. Bicchi and N. G. Tsagarakis} } @article {3216, title = {Postural Hand Synergies during Environmental Constraint Exploitation}, journal = {Fronters in Neurorobotics}, year = {2017}, month = {08/2017}, abstract = {

Humans are able to intuitively exploit the shape of an object and environmental constraints to achieve stable grasps and perform dexterous manipulations. In doing that, a vast range of kinematic strategies can be observed. However, in this work we formulate the hypothesis that such ability can be described in terms of a synergistic behavior in the generation of hand postures, i.e., using a reduced set of commonly used kinematic patterns. This is in analogy with previous studies showing the presence of such behavior in different tasks, such as grasping. We investigated this hypothesis in experiments performed by six subjects, who were asked to grasp objects from a flat surface. We quantitatively characterized hand posture behavior from a kinematic perspective, i.e., the hand joint angles, in both pre-shaping and during the interaction with the environment. To determine the role of tactile feedback, we repeated the same experiments but with subjects wearing a rigid shell on the fingertips to reduce cutaneous afferent inputs. Results show the persistence of at least two postural synergies in all the considered experimental conditions and phases. Tactile impairment does not alter significantly the first two synergies, and contact with the environment generates a change only for higher order Principal Components. A good match also arises between the first synergy found in our analysis and the first synergy of grasping as quantified by previous work. The present study is motivated by the interest of learning from the human example, extracting lessons that can be applied in robot design and control. Thus, we conclude with a discussion on implications for robotics of our findings.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbot.2017.00041}, url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbot.2017.00041/full}, author = {C. Della Santina and M. Bianchi and G. Averta and S. Ciotti and V. Arapi and S. Fani and E. Battaglia and M. G. Catalano and M. Santello and A. Bicchi} } @conference {3121, title = {The Rice Haptic Rocker: skin stretch haptic feedback with the Pisa/IIT SoftHand }, booktitle = {IEEE World Haptics Conference}, year = {2017}, note = {

The authors gratefully acknowledge Matteo Rossi for his valuable advice and Mikaela Juzswik for her unique contribution in the physical realization of some of the equipment used in the experiments. This work was partially supported by the European Community funded project WEARHAP (contract 601165), by the European Commission project (Horizon 2020 research program) SOFTPRO (no. 688857), by the ERC Advanced Grant no. 291166 SoftHands and by the NSF grant IIS-1065497.

}, month = {06/2017}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {F{\"u}rstenfeldbruck (Munich), Germany, June 6-9, 2017}, abstract = {

Myoelectric prostheses have seen increased application in clinical practice and research, due to their potential for good functionality and versatility. Yet, myoelectric prostheses still suffer from a lack of intuitive control and haptic feedback, which can frustrate users and lead to abandonment. To address this problem, we propose to convey proprioceptive information for a prosthetic hand with skin stretch using the Rice Haptic Rocker. This device was integrated with the myo-controlled version of Pisa/IIT SoftHand and a size discrimination test with 18 able bodied subjects was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Results show that the Rice Haptic Rocker can be successfully used to convey proprioceptive information. A Likert survey was also presented to the experiment participants, who evaluated the integrated setup as easy to use and effective in conveying proprioception.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {E. Battaglia and J. P. Clark and M. Bianchi and M. G. Catalano and A. Bicchi and M. K. O{\textquoteright}Malley} } @article {3105, title = {On the Role of Affective Properties in Hedonic and Discriminant Haptic Systems}, journal = {International Journal of Social Robotics}, volume = {9}, year = {2017}, month = {01/2017}, pages = {87{\textendash}95}, abstract = {

Common haptic devices are designed to effectively provide kinaesthetic and/or cutaneous discriminative inputs to the users by modulating some physical parameters. However, in addition to this behavior, haptic stimuli were proven to convey also affective inputs to the brain. Nevertheless, such affective properties of touch are often disregarded in the design (and consequent validation) of haptic displays. In this paper we present some preliminary experimental evidences about how emotional feelings, intrinsically present while interacting with tactile displays, can be assessed. We propose a methodology based on a bidimensional model of elicited emotions evaluated by means of simple psychometric tests and statistical inference. Specifically, affective dimensions are expressed in terms of arousal and valence, which are quantified through two simple one-question psychometric tests, whereas statistical inference is based on rank-based non-parametric tests. In this work we consider two types of haptic systems: (i) a softness display, FYD-2, which was designed to convey purely discriminative softness haptic stimuli and (ii) a system designed to convey affective caress-like stimuli (by regulating the velocity and the strength of the {\textquotedblleft}caress{\textquotedblright}) on the user forearm. Gender differences were also considered. In both devices, the affective component clearly depends on the stimuli and it is gender-related. Finally, we discuss how such outcomes might be profitably used to guide the design and the usage of haptic devices, in order to take into account also the emotional component, thus improving system performance.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, issn = {1875-4791}, doi = {10.1007/s12369-016-0371-x}, url = {http://rdcu.be/ugoW}, author = {M. Bianchi and G. Valenza and A Lanata and A. Greco and M. Nardelli and A. Bicchi and E. P. Scilingo} } @article {3258, title = {The SoftHand Pro-H: A Hybrid Body-Controlled, Electrically Powered Hand Prosthesis for Daily Living and Working }, journal = {IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine}, year = {2017}, note = {

This work was supported by the European Commission project (Horizon 2020 research program) SOFTPRO 688857, the European Research Council under the Advanced Grant SoftHands {\textquotedblleft}A Theory of Soft Synergies for a New Generation of Artificial Hands,{\textquotedblright} ERC-291166, and the Proof of Concept Project SoftHand Pro-H, ERC-2016-PoC 727536.\ 

}, month = {11/2017}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, issn = {1070-9932}, doi = {10.1109/MRA.2017.2751662}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=8110634}, author = {C. Piazza and M. G. Catalano and S. B. Godfrey and M. Rossi and G. Grioli and M. Bianchi and K. Zhao and A. Bicchi} } @conference {3122, title = {Tactile Slip and Hand Displacement: Bending Hand Motion with Tactile Illusions}, booktitle = {IEEE World Haptic Conference}, year = {2017}, note = {

\ This work is supported in part by the European Research Council under the Advanced Grant SoftHands {\textquotedblleft}A Theory of Soft Synergies for a New Generation of Artificial Hands{\textquotedblright} no. ERC-291166, by the EU H2020 project {\textquotedblleft}SOFTPRO: Synergy-based Open-source Foundations and Technologies for Prosthetics and RehabilitatiOn{\textquotedblright} (no. 688857) and by the EU FP7 project (no. 601165), {\textquotedblleft}WEARable HAPtics for Humans and Robots (WEARHAP){\textquotedblright}. We thank Priscilla Balestrucci and Colleen P. Ryan for helpful comments and suggestions.

}, month = {06/2017}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {F{\"u}rstenfeldbruck (Munich), Germany, June 6-9, 2017}, abstract = {

Touch provides an important cue to perceive the physical properties of the external objects. Recent studies showed that tactile sensation also contributes to our sense of hand position and displacement in perceptual tasks. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that, sliding our hand over a stationary surface, tactile motion may provide a feedback for guiding hand trajectory. We asked participants to touch a plate having parallel ridges at different orientations and to perform a self-paced, straight movement of the hand. In our daily-life experience, tactile slip motion is equal and opposite to hand motion. Here, we used a well-established perceptual illusion to dissociate, in a controlled manner, the two motion estimates. According to previous studies, this stimulus produces a bias in the perceived direction of tactile motion, predicted by tactile flow model. We showed a systematic deviation in the movement of the hand towards a direction opposite to the one predicted by tactile flow, supporting the hypothesis that touch contributes to motor control of the hand. We suggested a model where the perceived hand motion is equal to a weighted sum of the estimate from classical proprioceptive cues (e.g., from musculoskeletal system) and the estimate from tactile slip.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {M. Bianchi and A. Moscatelli and S. Ciotti and G. C. Bettelani and F. Fioretti and F. Lacquaniti and A. Bicchi} } @article {2844, title = {Assessment of Myoelectric Controller Performance and Kinematic Behavior of a Novel Soft Synergy-inspired Robotic Hand for Prosthetic Applications}, journal = {Frontiers in Neurorobotics}, volume = {10}, year = {2016}, month = {10/2016}, abstract = {

Myoelectric-artificial limbs can significantly advance the state of the art in prosthetics, since they can be used to control mechatronic devices through muscular activity in a way that mimics how the subjects used to activate their muscles before limb loss. However, surveys indicate that dissatisfaction with the functionality of terminal devices underlies the widespread abandonment of prostheses. We believe that one key factor to improve acceptability of prosthetic devices is to attain human-likeness of prosthesis movements, a goal which is being pursued by research on social and human-robot interactions. Therefore, to reduce early abandonment of terminal devices, we propose that controllers should be designed such as to ensure effective task accomplishment in a natural fashion. In this work, we have analyzed and compared the performance of three types of myoelectric controller algorithms based on surface electromyography to control an under-actuated and multi-degrees of freedom prosthetic hand, the SoftHand Pro. The goal of the present study was to identify the myoelectric algorithm that best mimics the native hand movements. As a preliminary step, we first quantified the repeatability of the SoftHand Pro finger movements and identified the electromyographic recording sites for able-bodied individuals with the highest signal-to-noise ratio from two pairs of muscles, i.e. flexor digitorum superficialis/extensor digitorum communis, and flexor carpi radialis/extensor carpi ulnaris. Able-bodied volunteers were then asked to execute reach-to-grasp movements, while electromyography signals were recorded from flexor digitorum superficialis/extensor digitorum communis as this was identified as the muscle pair characterized by high signal-to-noise ratio and intuitive control. Subsequently, we tested three myoelectric controllers that mapped electromyography signals to position of the SoftHand Pro. We found that a differential electromyography-to-position mapping ensured the highest coherence with hand movements. Our results represent a first step towards a more effective and intuitive control of myoelectric hand prostheses.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.3389/fnbot.2016.00011}, url = {https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5066092/}, author = {S. Fani and M. Bianchi and S. Jain and J. Pimenta Neto and S. Boege and G. Grioli and A. Bicchi and M. Santello} } @article {2685, title = {The Change in Fingertip Contact Area as a Novel Proprioceptive Cue}, journal = {Current Biology}, volume = {26}, year = {2016}, month = {05/2016}, pages = {1159{\textendash}1163}, abstract = {

Humans, many animals, and certain robotic hands have deformable fingertip pads. Deformable pads have the advantage of conforming to the objects that are being touched, ensuring a stable grasp for a large range of forces and shapes. Pad deformations change with finger displacements during touch. Pushing a finger against an external surface typically provokes an increase of the gross contact area, potentially providing a relative motion cue, a situation comparable to looming in vision. The rate of increase of the area of contact also depends on the compliance of the object. Because objects normally do not suddenly change compliance, participants may interpret an artificially induced variation in compliance, which coincides with a change in the gross contact area, as a change in finger displacement, and consequently they may misestimate their finger{\textquoteright}s position relative to the touched object. To test this, we asked participants to compare the perceived displacements of their finger while contacting an object varying pseudo-randomly in compliance from trial to trial. Results indicate a bias in the perception of finger displacement induced by the change in compliance, hence in contact area, indicating that participants interpreted the altered cutaneous input as a cue to proprioception. This situation highlights the capacity of the brain to take advantage of knowledge of the mechanical properties of the body and of the external environment.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1016/j.cub.2016.02.052}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982216301348}, author = {A. Moscatelli and M. Bianchi and A. Serio and A. Terekhov and V. Hayward and M. Ernst and A. Bicchi} } @article {2652, title = {Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands}, journal = {Physics of Life Reviews}, volume = {17}, year = {2016}, month = {07/2016}, pages = {1-23}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1571064516000269}, author = {M. Santello and M. Bianchi and M Gabiccini and E. Ricciardi and G. Salvietti and D Prattichizzo and M. Ernst and A. Moscatelli and H. Jorntell and A. Kappers and K. Kyriakopulos and A Albu-Schaeffer and C. Castellini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2655, title = {Reflex Control of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand during Object Slippage}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference of Robotics and Automation (ICRA2016)}, year = {2016}, pages = {1972 - 1979}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Stockholm, Sweden}, abstract = {

In this work, to guarantee the Pisa/IIT SoftHand{\textquoteright}s

grasp robustness against slippage, three reflex control modes,

namely Current, Pose and Impedance, are implemented and

experimentally evaluated. Towards this objective, ThimbleSense

fingertip sensors are designed and integrated into the thumb

and middle fingers of the SoftHand for real-time detection and

control of the slippage. Current reflex regulates the restoring

grasp forces of the hand by modulating the motor{\textquoteright}s current

profile according to an update law. Pose and Impedance reflex

modes instead replicate this behaviour by implementing an

impedance control scheme. The difference between the two

latter is that the stiffness gain in Impedance reflex mode is

being varied in addition to the hand pose, as a function of

the slippage on the fingertips. Experimental setup also includes

a seven degrees-of-freedom robotic arm to realize consistent

trajectories (e.g. lifting) among three control modes for the sake

of comparison. Different test objects are considered to evaluate

the efficacy of the proposed reflex modes in our experimental

setup. Results suggest that task-appropriate restoring forces

can be achieved using Impedance reflex due to its capability

in demonstrating instantaneous and rather smooth reflexive

behaviour during slippage. Preliminary experiments on five

healthy human subjects provide evidence on the similarity of the

control concepts exploited by the humans and the one realized

by the Impedance reflex, highlighting its potential in prosthetic

applications.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/ICRA.2016.7487344}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7487344}, author = {A. Ajoudani and E. Hocaoglu and Altobelli, A and M. Rossi and E. Battaglia and N G Tsagarakis and A. Bicchi} } @inbook {2865, title = {The SoftHand Pro: Translation from Robotic Hand to Prosthetic Prototype}, booktitle = {Converging Clinical and Engineering Research on Neurorehabilitation II}, volume = {15}, number = {Biosystems \& Biorobotics }, year = {2016}, note = {

Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on NeuroRehabilitation (ICNR2016), October 18-21, 2016, Segovia, Spain

}, pages = {469-473}, publisher = {Springer International Publishing}, organization = {Springer International Publishing}, abstract = {

This work presents the translation from a humanoid robotic hand to a prosthetic prototype and its first evaluation in a set of 9 persons with amputation. The Pisa/IIT SoftHand is an underactuated hand built on the neuroscientific principle of motor synergies enabling it to perform natural, human-like movements and mold around grasped objects with minimal control input. These features motivated the development of the SoftHand Pro, a prosthetic version of the SoftHand built to interface with a prosthetic socket. The results of the preliminary testing of the SoftHand Pro showed it to be a highly functional design with an intuitive control system. Present results warrant further testing to develop the SoftHand Pro.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, issn = {978-3-319-46668-2}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-46669-9_78}, url = {http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-46669-9_78}, author = {S. B. Godfrey and M. Bianchi and K. Zhao and M. G. Catalano and R. Breighner and A. Theuer and K. Andrews and G. Grioli and M. Santello and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2725, title = {SoftHand Pro-D: Matching Dynamic Content of Natural User Commands with Hand Embodiment for Enhanced Prosthesis Control}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference of Robotics and Automation (ICRA2016)}, year = {2016}, note = {

softpro soma softhands

}, pages = {3516 - 3523}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Stockholm, Sweden, May 16-21}, abstract = {

State of the art of hand prosthetics is divided between simple and reliable gripper-like systems and sophisticate hi-tech poly-articular hands which tend to be complex both in their design and for the patient to operate. In this paper, we introduce the idea of decoding different movement intentions of the patient using the dynamic frequency content of the control signals in a natural way. We move a step further showing how this idea can be embedded in the mechanics of an underactuated soft hand by using only passive damping components.

In particular we devise a method to design the hand hardware to obtain a given desired motion. This method, that we call of the dynamic synergies, builds on the theory of linear descriptor systems, and is based on the division of the hand movement in a slow and a fast components. We use this method to evolve the design of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand in a prototype prosthesis which, while still having 19 degrees of freedom and just one motor, can move along two different synergistic directions of motion (and combinations of the two), to perform either a pinch or a power grasp. Preliminary experimental results are presented, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed design

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/ICRA.2016.7487532}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7487532}, author = {C. Piazza and C. Della Santina and M. G. Catalano and G. Grioli and M. Garabini and A. Bicchi} } @article {2867, title = {A Synergy-Based Optimally Designed Sensing Glove for Functional Grasp Recognition}, journal = {Sensors}, volume = {16}, year = {2016}, abstract = {

Achieving accurate and reliable kinematic hand pose reconstructions represents a challenging task. The main reason for this is the complexity of hand biomechanics, where several degrees of freedom are distributed along a continuous deformable structure. Wearable sensing can represent a viable solution to tackle this issue, since it enables a more natural kinematic monitoring. However, the intrinsic accuracy (as well as the number of sensing elements) of wearable hand pose reconstruction (HPR) systems can be severely limited by ergonomics and cost considerations. In this paper, we combined the theoretical foundations of the optimal design of HPR devices based on hand synergy information, i.e., the inter-joint covariation patterns, with textile goniometers based on knitted piezoresistive fabrics (KPF) technology, to develop, for the first time, an optimally-designed under-sensed glove for measuring hand kinematics. We used only five sensors optimally placed on the hand and completed hand pose reconstruction (described according to a kinematic model with 19 degrees of freedom) leveraging upon synergistic information. The reconstructions we obtained from five different subjects were used to implement an unsupervised method for the recognition of eight functional grasps, showing a high degree of accuracy and robustness.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, doi = {10.3390/s16060811}, url = {http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/16/6/811}, author = {S. Ciotti and E. Battaglia and N. Carbonaro and A. Bicchi and A. Tognetti and M. Bianchi} } @article {2544, title = {ThimbleSense: a fingertip-wearable tactile sensor for grasp analysis}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Haptics}, volume = {9}, year = {2016}, note = {
This work was partially supported by the European Community funded projects WEARHAP, PACMAN and SOMA (contracts 601165, 600918 and 645599 respectively), by the ERC Advanced Grant no. 291166 SoftHands
}, month = {03/2016}, pages = {121-133}, abstract = {

Accurate measurement of contact forces between hand and grasped objects is crucial to study sensorimotor control during grasp and manipulation. In this work we introduce ThimbleSense, a prototype of individual-digit wearable force/torque sensor based on the principle of intrinsic tactile sensing. By exploiting the integration of this approach with an active marker-based motion capture system, the proposed device simultaneously measures absolute position and orientation of the fingertip, which in turn yields measurements of contacts and force components expressed in a global reference frame. The main advantage of this approach with respect to more conventional solutions is its versatility. Specifically, ThimbleSense can be used to study grasping and manipulation of a wide variety of objects, while still retaining complete force/torque measurements. Nevertheless, validation of the proposed device is a necessary step before it can be used for experimental purposes. In this work we present the results of a series of experiments designed to validate the accuracy of ThimbleSense measurements and evaluate the effects of distortion of tactile afferent inputs caused by the device{\textquoteright}s rigid shells on grasp forces.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, issn = {1939-1412}, doi = {10.1109/TOH.2015.2482478}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7294702}, author = {E. Battaglia and M. Bianchi and Altobelli, A and G. Grioli and M. G. Catalano and A. Serio and M. Santello and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2723, title = {A Wearable Fabric-based Display for Haptic Multi-Cue Delivery}, booktitle = {IEEE Haptics Symposium}, year = {2016}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Philadelphia, USA, April 8-11, 2016}, abstract = {

Softness represents one of the most informative

haptic properties, which plays a fundamental role in both

everyday tasks and more complex procedures. Thus, it is not

surprising that much effort has been devoted to designing haptic

systems able to suitably reproduce this information. At the

same time, wearability has gained an increasing importance as

a novel paradigm to enable a more effective and naturalistic

human robot interaction. Capitalizing upon our previous works

on grounded softness devices, in this paper we present the

Wearable Fabric Yielding Display (W-FYD), a fabric-based

tactile display for multi-cue delivery that can be worn by

user{\textquoteright}s finger. W-FYD enables to implement both passive and

active tactile exploration. Different levels of stiffness can be

reproduced by modulating the stretching state of a fabric

through two DC motors. An additional vertical degree of

freedom is implemented through a lifting mechanism, which

enables to convey softness stimuli to the user{\textquoteright}s finger pad.

Furthermore, a sliding effect on the finger can be also induced.

Experiments with humans show the effectiveness of W-FYD for

haptic multi-cue delivery.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/HAPTICS.2016.7463190}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/search/searchresult.jsp?queryText=A\%20Wearable\%20Fabric-based\%20Display\%20for\%20Haptic\%20Multi-Cue\%20Delivery\&newsearch=true}, author = {M. Bianchi and E. Battaglia and M. Poggiani and S. Ciotti and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2454, title = {Characterization of Nonlinear Finger Pad Mechanics for Tactile Rendering}, booktitle = {IEEE World Haptics Conference}, year = {2015}, note = {

softhands, werahap

}, pages = {63-68}, address = {Chicago, USA, 22-25 June 2015}, abstract = {

The computation of skin forces and deformations for\ tactilerendering\ requires an accurate model of the extremely\ nonlinear\ behavior of the skin. In this work, we investigate the\ characterization\ of\ fingermechanics\ with the goal of designing accurate\ nonlinear\ models for\ tactilerendering. First, we describe a measurement setup that enables the acquisition of contact force and contact area in the context of controlled\ finger\ indentation experiments. Second, we describe an optimization procedure that estimates the parameters of strain-limiting deformation models that match best the acquired data. We show that the acquisition setup allows the measurement of force and area information with high repeatability, and the estimation method reaches\ nonlinear\ models that match the measured data with high accuracy.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/WHC.2015.7177692}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7177692}, author = {E. Miguel and M. L. D{\textquoteright}Angelo and F. Cannella and M. Bianchi and M Memeo and A. Bicchi and D. G. Caldwell and M. A. Otaduy} } @conference {2537, title = {Dexterity augmentation on a synergistic hand: the Pisa/IIT SoftHand+}, booktitle = {15th IEEE RAS Humanoids Conference (HUMANOIDS2015)}, year = {2015}, note = {

Softhands, SOMA

Best Interactive Paper Award

}, pages = {497 - 503}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Seoul, Korea, November 3 - 5, 2015}, abstract = {
Soft robotics and under-actuation were recently demonstrated as good approaches for the implementation of humanoid robotic hands. Nevertheless, it is often difficult to increase the number of degrees of actuation of heavily under-actuated hands without compromising their intrinsic simplicity. In this paper we analyze the Pisa/IIT SoftHand and its underlying logic of adaptive synergies, and propose a method to double its number of degree of actuation, with a very reduced impact on its mechanical complexity. This new design paradigm is based on constructive exploitation of friction phenomena.
Based on this method, a novel prototype of under-actuated robot hand with two degrees of actuation is proposed, named Pisa/IIT SoftHand+. A preliminary validation of the prototype follows, based on grasping and manipulation examples of some objects.
}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/HUMANOIDS.2015.7363595}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7363595}, author = {C. Della Santina and G. Grioli and M. G. Catalano and Brando, A. and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2538, title = {Effect of Homogenous Object Stiffness on Tri-digit Grasp Properties}, booktitle = {37th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC2015)}, year = {2015}, note = {
This work is supported in part by the European Research Council under the Advanced Grant SoftHands {\textquotedblleft}A Theory of Soft Synergies for a New Generation of Artificial Hands{\textquotedblright} no. ERC-291166 and under the EU FP7 project WEARHAP {\textquotedblleft}WEARable HAPtics for Humans and Robots{\textquotedblright} no. 601165.
}, pages = {6704 - 6707}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = { Milano, Italy, August 25th-29th, 2015}, abstract = {
This paper presents experimental findings on how humans modulate their muscle activity while grasping objects of varying levels of compliance. We hypothesize that one of the key abilities that allows humans to successfully cope with uncertainties while grasping compliant objects is the ability to modulate muscle activity to control both grasp force and stiffness in a way that is coherent with the task. To that end, subjects were recruited to perform a grasp and lift task with a tripod-grasp device with contact surfaces of variable compliance. Subjects performed the task under four different compliance conditions while surface EMG from the main finger flexor and extensor muscles was recorded along with force and torque data at the contact points. Significant increases in the extensor muscle (the antagonist in the task) and co-contraction levels were found with increasing compliance at the contact points. These results suggest that the motor system may employ a strategy of increasing cocontraction, and thereby stiffness, to counteract the decreased stability in grasping compliant objects. Future experiments will examine the extent to which this phenomenon is also related to specific task features, such as precision versus power grasp and object weight.
}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/EMBC.2015.7319931}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7319931}, author = {S. B. Godfrey and Altobelli, A and M. Rossi and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2398, title = {Electromyographic Mapping of Finger Stiffness in Tripod Grasp: a Proof of Concept}, booktitle = {International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), 2015}, year = {2015}, note = {

softhands, wearhap

}, pages = {181-186}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Singapore, 11 {\textendash} 14 August 2015}, abstract = {

Effective execution of a manipulation task using prosthetic or robotic hands requires that the motion and the impedance profiles of the\ fingers\ be appropriately commanded. This, however, brings some design and control challenges regarding the individual planning and realization of the\ finger\ motion and\ stiffnesstrajectories. It appears that the central nervous system solves for this complexity in an effective and coordinated manner which has been well-recognized under the\ concept\ of hand synergies. While the exploitation of this\ concept\ in kinematic coordinates has lead to the development of several successful robotic designs and control strategies, its extension to dynamic coordinates, such as coordinated stiffening of the\ fingers, remains to be investigated. Indeed, in this study we provide preliminary evidence on the existence of such coordinated stiffening patterns in human\ fingers\ and establish initial steps towards a real-time and effective modelling of the\ fingerstiffness\ in a\ tripodgrasp. To achieve this goal, the endpoint\ stiffness\ of the thumb, index and middle\ fingers\ of five healthy subjects are experimentally identified and correlated with the electromyography (EMG) signals recorded from a dominant antagonistic pair of the forearm muscles. Our findings suggest that: i) the magnitude of thestiffness\ ellipses at the fingertips grows in a coordinated way, subsequent to the co-contraction of the forearm muscles; ii) the length of the ellipses{\textquoteright} axes appears to have a nearly linear relationship with the co-contraction level of the antagonistic muscle pair.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/ICORR.2015.7281196}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7281196}, author = {M. Rossi and Altobelli, A and S. B. Godfrey and A. Ajoudani and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2539, title = {A Finite Element Model of Tactile Flow for Softness Perception}, booktitle = {37th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC2015)}, year = {2015}, note = {

This work was partially supported by the European Research Council under the ERC Advanced Grant no. 291166 SoftHands (A Theory of Soft Synergies for a New Generation of Artificial Hands) and under the grant agreement no. 601165 Wearhap (Wearable Haptics for Humans and Robots), within the FP7/2007-2013 program: Cognitive Systems and Robotics.

}, pages = {2430 - 2433}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Milano, Italy, August 25th-29th, 2015}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/EMBC.2015.7318884}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7318884}, author = {E. Battaglia and M. Bianchi and M. L. D{\textquoteright}Angelo and M. D{\textquoteright}Imperio and F. Cannella and E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2465, title = {Grasp Planning with Soft Hands using Bounding Box Object Decomposition}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference of Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS2015)}, year = {2015}, note = {

softhands pacman walkman

}, pages = {518 - 523}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Hamburg, Germany, September 28 - October 02, 2015}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/IROS.2015.7353421}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=7353421\&queryText=Grasp\%20Planning\%20with\%20Soft\%20Hands\%20using\%20Bounding\%20Box\%20Object\%20Decomposition\&newsearch=true}, author = {M. Bonilla and D. Resasco and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2453, title = {A Novel Tactile Display for Softness and Texture Rendering in Tele-Operation Tasks}, booktitle = { IEEE World Haptics Conference}, year = {2015}, note = {

This work is supported in part by the European Research Council under the Advanced Grant SoftHands {\textquotedblleft}A Theory of Soft Synergies for a New Generation of Artificial Hands{\textquotedblright} no. ERC-291166, and by the EU FP7 project (no. 601165), {\textquotedblleft}WEARable HAPtics for Humans and Robots (WEARHAP){\textquotedblright}

}, pages = {49-56}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Chicago, USA, 22-25 June 2015}, abstract = {

Softness\ and\ texture\ high-frequency information represent fundamental haptic properties for every day life activities and environment tactual exploration. While several\ displays\ have been produced to convey either\ softness\ or high-frequency information, there is no or little evidence of systems that are able to reproduce both these properties in an integrated fashion. This aspect is especially crucial in medical\ tele-operated procedures, where roughness and stiffness of human tissues are both important to correctly identify given pathologies through palpation (e.g. in\ tele-dermatology). This work presents a fabric yielding\ display\ (FYD-pad), a fabric-based\ tactiledisplay\ for\ softness\ and\ texturerendering. The system exploits the control of two motors to modify both the stretching state of the elastic fabric forsoftnessrendering\ and to convey\ texture\ information on the basis of accelerometer-based data. At the same time, the measurement of the contact area can be used to control remote or virtual robots. In this paper, we discuss the architecture of FYD-pad and the techniques used for\ softness\ and\ texturereproduction as well as for synthesizing probe-surface interactions from real data.\ Tele-operationexamples and preliminary experiments with humans are reported, which show the effectiveness of the device in delivering both\ softness\ and\ texture\ information.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/WHC.2015.7177690}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7177690}, author = {M. Bianchi and M. Poggiani and A. Serio and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2337, title = {Optimal Contact Force Distribution for Compliant Humanoid Robots in Whole-Body Loco-Manipulation Tasks}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA2015)}, year = {2015}, pages = {5675 - 5681}, address = {Seattle, USA, 25 - 30 May}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/ICRA.2015.7139994}, author = {E. Farnioli and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2559, title = {A Reduced-Complexity Description of Arm Endpoint Stiffness with Applications to Teleimpedance Control}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference of Intelligent Robots and Systems - IROS2015}, year = {2015}, note = {

softhands, wearhap

}, pages = {1017 - 1023}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Hamburg, Germany, 28 Sept - 2 Oct 2015}, abstract = {

Effective and stable execution of a remote task in an uncertain environment requires that the task force and position trajectories of the slave robot be appropriately commanded. To achieve this goal, in teleimpedance control, a reference command which consists of the stiffness and position profiles of the master is computed and realized by the compliant slave robot in real-time. This highlights the need for a suitable and computationally efficient tracking of the human limb stiffness profile in real-time. In this direction, based on the observations in human neuromotor control which give evidence on the predominant use of the arm configuration in directional adjustments of the endpoint stiffness profile, and the role of muscular co-activations which contribute to a coordinated stiffening of the task stiffness in all directions, we propose a novel and computationally efficient model of the arm endpoint stiffness behaviour. With the purpose of real-time tracking of the human arm kinematics, an arm triangle is introduced using three body markers at the shoulder, elbow and wrist joints. In addition, a co-contraction index is defined using muscular activities of a dominant antagonistic muscle pair. Calibration and identification of the model parameters are carried out experimentally, using perturbation-based arm endpoint stiffness measurements in different arm configurations and co-contraction levels of the chosen muscles. Results of this study suggest that the proposed model enables the master to naturally execute a remote task by modulating the direction of the major axes of the endpoint stiffness and its volume using arm configuration and the co-ativation of the involved muscles, respectively.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/IROS.2015.7353495}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7353495}, author = {A. Ajoudani and C. Fang and N G Tsagarakis and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2121, title = {Active gathering of frictional properties from objects}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE/RSJ Intl Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2014)}, year = {2014}, pages = {3982 - 3987 }, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Chicago, USA}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/IROS.2014.6943122}, author = {C. Rosales and A. Ajoudani and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @article {1665, title = {Adaptive Synergies for the Design and Control of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand}, journal = {International Journal of Robotics Research}, volume = {33}, year = {2014}, pages = {768{\textendash}782}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1177/0278364913518998}, author = {M. G. Catalano and G. Grioli and E. Farnioli and A. Serio and C. Piazza and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2086, title = {A change in the fingertip contact area induces an illusory displacement of the finger}, booktitle = {Eurohaptics}, volume = {LNCS - Free Preview Haptics: Neuroscience, Devices, Modeling, and Applications}, year = {2014}, pages = {72 - 79}, publisher = {Springer-Verlag}, organization = {Springer-Verlag}, address = {Versailles, France), June 2014}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-662-44196-1_10}, author = {A. Moscatelli and M. Bianchi and A. Serio and Al Atassi, O. and S. Fani and A. Terekhov and V. Hayward and M. Ernst and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2082, title = {Design and preliminary affective characterization of a novel fabric-based tactile display}, booktitle = {Haptics Symposium (HAPTICS), 2014 IEEE}, year = {2014}, pages = { 591 - 596}, address = {Houston, TX}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/HAPTICS.2014.6775522}, author = {M. Bianchi and G. Valenza and A. Serio and A Lanata and L. Greco and M. Nardelli and E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2233, title = {Exploiting hand kinematic synergies and wearable under-sensing for hand functional grasp recognition}, booktitle = { 4th International Conference on Wireless Mobile Communication and Healthcare - "Transforming healthcare through innovations in mobile and wireless technologies" }, year = {2014}, address = {November 3{\textendash}5, 2014 Athens, Greece}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = { http://dx.doi.org/10.4108/icst.mobihealth.2014.257228}, author = {M. Bianchi and N. Carbonaro and E. Battaglia and F. Lorussi and A. Bicchi and D. De Rossi and A. Tognetti} } @conference {2081, title = {Exploring haptic feedback for the Pisa/IIT SoftHand}, booktitle = {Haptics Symposium (HAPTICS), 2014 IEEE}, year = {2014}, address = {Houston, TX}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/HAPTICS.2014.6775572}, author = {S. B. Godfrey and A. Ajoudani and M. Bianchi and M. G. Catalano and G. Grioli and A. Bicchi} } @article {1668, title = {Exploring Teleimpedance and Tactile Feedback for Intuitive Control of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand}, journal = { IEEE Transactions on Haptics}, volume = {7}, year = {2014}, pages = {203 - 215}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/TOH.2014.2309142 }, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=6755554}, author = {A. Ajoudani and S. B. Godfrey and M. G. Catalano and M. Bianchi and G. Grioli and N G Tsagarakis and A. Bicchi} } @inbook {2087, title = {A Fabric-based Approach for Softness Rendering}, booktitle = {Multisensory Softness: Perceived Compliance from Multiple Sources of Information}, volume = {Springer Series on Touch and Haptic Systems}, year = {2014}, pages = {219 - 240}, publisher = {Springer-Verlag}, organization = {Springer-Verlag}, chapter = {11}, abstract = {

In this chapter we describe a softness display based on the contact area spread rate (CASR) paradigm. This device uses a stretchable fabric as a substrate that can be touched by users, while contact area is directly measured via an optical system. By varying the stretching state of the fabric, different stiffness values can be conveyed to users. We describe a first technological implementation of the display and compare its performance in rendering various levels of stiffness with the one exhibited by a pneumatic CASR-based device. Psychophysical experiments are reported and discussed. Afterwards, we present a new technological implementation for the fabric-based display, with reduced dimensions and faster actuation, which enables rapid changes in the fabric stretching state. These changes are mandatory to properly track typical force/area curves of real materials. System performance in mimicking force-area curves obtained from real objects exhibits a high degree of reliability, also in eliciting overall discriminable levels of softness.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, issn = {978-1-4471-6532-3}, doi = {10.1007/978-1-4471-6533-0_11}, url = {http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007\%2F978-1-4471-6533-0_11}, author = {M. Bianchi and A. Serio and E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2232, title = {Grasping with Soft Hands}, booktitle = {IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (HUMANOIDS 2014)}, year = {2014}, pages = {581 - 587}, address = {Madrid, Spain, November 18 - 20}, abstract = {

Despite some prematurely optimistic claims, the ability of robots to grasp general objects in unstructured environments still remains far behind that of humans. This is not solely caused by differences in the mechanics of hands: indeed, we show that human use of a simple robot hand (the Pisa/IIT SoftHand) can afford capabilities that are comparable to natural grasping. It is through the observation of such human-directed robot hand operations that we realized how fundamental in everyday grasping and manipulation is the role of hand compliance, which is used to adapt to the shape of surrounding objects. Objects and environmental constraints are in turn used to functionally shape the hand, going beyond its nominal kinematic limits by exploiting structural softness. In this paper, we set out to study grasp planning for hands that are simple {\textemdash} in the sense of low number of actuated degrees of freedom (one for the Pisa/IIT SoftHand) {\textemdash} but are soft, i.e. continuously deformable in an infinity of possible shapes through interaction with objects. After general considerations on the change of paradigm in grasp planning that this setting brings about with respect to classical rigid multi-dof grasp planning, we present a procedure to extract grasp affordances for the Pisa/IIT SoftHand through physically accurate numerical simulations. The selected grasps are then successfully tested in an experimental scenario.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/HUMANOIDS.2014.7041421}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7041421\&queryText\%3DGrasping+with+Soft+Hands}, author = {M. Bonilla and E. Farnioli and C. Piazza and M. G. Catalano and G. Grioli and M. Garabini and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @inbook {1694, title = {HANDS.DVI: A DeVice-Independent programming and control framework for robotic HANDS}, booktitle = {Gearing up and accelerating cross-fertilization between academic and industrial robotics research in Europe - Technology transfer experiments from the ECHORD project}, volume = {94}, number = {Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics}, year = {2014}, pages = {197-215}, abstract = {

The scientific goal of HANDS.DVI consists of developing a common
framework to programming robotic hands independently from their kinematics,
mechanical construction, and sensor equipment complexity. Recent results on the
organization of the human hand in grasping and manipulation are the inspiration
for this experiment. The reduced set of parameters that we effectively use to control
our hands is known in the literature as the set of synergies. The synergistic
organization of the human hand is the theoretical foundation of the innovative approach
to design a unified framework for robotic hands control. Theoretical tools
have been studied to design a suitable mapping function of the control action (decomposed
in its elemental action) from a human hand model domain onto the
articulated robotic hand co-domain. The developed control framework has been
applied on an experimental set up consisting of two robotic hands with dissimilar
kinematics grasping an object instrumented with force sensors.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-02934-4_10}, author = {G. Salvietti and G. Gioioso and M. Malvezzi and D Prattichizzo and A. Serio and E. Farnioli and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi and I. Sarakoglou and N G Tsagarakis and D. G. Caldwell} } @conference {2119, title = {Haptic Exploration of Unknown Surfaces with Discontinuities}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE/RSJ Intl Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2014)}, year = {2014}, month = {09/2014}, pages = {1255 - 1260}, address = {Chicago, USA}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/IROS.2014.6942718}, url = {http://kormushev.com/papers/Jamisola_IROS-2014.pdf}, author = {Jamisola, R. S. and Kormushev, P. and A. Bicchi and D. G. Caldwell} } @conference {2159, title = {Manipulation Framework for Compliant Humanoid COMAN: Application to a Valve Turning Task}, booktitle = {IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (HUMANOIDS 2014)}, year = {2014}, pages = {664 - 670}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Madrid, Spain, November 18 - 20}, abstract = {

With the purpose of achieving a desired interaction performance for our compliant humanoid robot (COMAN), in this paper we propose a semi-autonomous control framework and evaluate it experimentally in a valve turning setup. The control structure consists of various modules and interfaces to identify the valve, locate the robot in front of it and perform the manipulation. The manipulation module implements four motion primitives (Reach, Grasp, Rotate and Disengage) and realizes the corresponding desired impedance profile for each phase to accomplish the task. In this direction, to establish a stable and compliant contact between the valve and the robot hands, while being able to generate the sufficient rotational torques depending on the valve{\textquoteright}s friction, Rotate incorporates a novel dual-arm impedance control technique to plan and realize a task-appropriate impedance profile. Results of the implementation of the proposed control framework are firstly evaluated in simulation studies using Gazebo. Subsequent experimental results highlight the efficiency of the proposed impedance planning and control in generation of the required interaction forces to accomplish the task.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/HUMANOIDS.2014.7041434}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7041434}, author = {A. Ajoudani and J. Lee and A. Rocchi and M. Ferrati and E. Mingo Hoffman and A Settimi and D. G. Caldwell and A. Bicchi and N G Tsagarakis} } @conference {1983, title = {Natural Redundancy Resolution in Dual-Arm Manipulation using Configuration Dependent Stiffness (CDS) Control}, booktitle = {2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation}, year = {2014}, pages = {1480 - 1486}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Hong Kong, May 31 2014-June 7 2014 }, abstract = {

Incorporation of human motor control principles in the motion control architectures for humanoid robots or assistive and prosthesis devices will permit these systems not only to look anthropomorphic and natural at the body ware level but also to generate natural motion profiles resembling those executed by humans during manipulation and locomotion. In this work, relying on the observations on human bimanual coordination, a novel realtime motion control strategy is proposed to regulate the desired Cartesian stiffness profile during the execution of bimanual tasks. The novelty of the proposed control scheme relies on the use of common mode stiffness (CMS) and configuration dependent stiffness (CDS) to regulate the size and directionality of the task space stiffness ellipsoid. Thanks to the CDS control, the proposed scheme is not only proved to be effective in regulating the desired stiffness ellipsoid but also permits to resolve the manipulator redundancy in a natural manner. The effectiveness of the controller is evaluated in an experimental setup in which two cooperating robotic arms are executing an assembly task. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed dual-arm CDS-CMS controller is effective in tracking the desired stiffness ellipsoids as well as in producing human-like natural motions for the two robotic arms.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/ICRA.2014.6907047}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=6945252}, author = {A. Ajoudani and N G Tsagarakis and J. Lee and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2120, title = {The Patched Intrinsic Tactile Object: a Tool to Investigate Human Grasps}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE/RSJ Intl Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2014)}, year = {2014}, pages = {1261 - 1268}, address = {Chicago, USA}, abstract = {

In this paper we report on the development of a modular multi-DoF F/T sensor and its use in the implementation of a sensorized object capable of multi-touch detection. The sensor is composed of six 6-axis F/T sensors spatially organized on the faces of a cube. Different calibration methods are presented to directly tackle the coupling phenomena inherent to the spatial organization of the faces and the lightweight construction of the sensor which would have, otherwise, degraded its accuracy. To assess the performances of the calibration methods, a comparison is reported with respect to the measurements obtained with a commercial force/torque sensor considered as ground truth (ATI Delta). Thanks to the modular design and the possibility to cover the sensitive faces with surface patches of different geometry, a variety of sensorized objects with different shapes can be realized. The peculiar feature that all the components of the contact wrench can be measured on each face with high accuracy, renders it a unique tool in the study of grasp force distribution in humans, with envisioned use both in neuroscience investigations and robotic applications.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/IROS.2014.6942719}, author = {A. Serio and E. Riccomini and V. Tartaglia and I. Sarakoglou and M Gabiccini and N G Tsagarakis and A. Bicchi} } @article {2234, title = {Special Issue on the Mechanics and Design of Robotic Hands}, year = {2014}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {Dollar, A. and A. Bicchi and M. Cutkosky and Howe, D.} } @conference {2084, title = {The tactile toolbox}, booktitle = {Haptics Symposium (HAPTICS), 2014 IEEE}, year = {2014}, address = {Houston, TX}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/HAPTICS.2014.6775573}, author = {A. Serio and M. Bianchi and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2083, title = {ThimbleSense: A new wearable tactile device for human and robotic fingers }, booktitle = {Haptics Symposium (HAPTICS), 2014 IEEE}, year = {2014}, address = {Houston, TX}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/HAPTICS.2014.6775571}, author = {E. Battaglia and G. Grioli and M. G. Catalano and M. Bianchi and A. Serio and M. Santello and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2130, title = {ThimbleSense: An Individual-Digit Wearable Tactile Sensor for Experimental Grasp Studies}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation - ICRA 2014}, year = {2014}, pages = {2728 - 2735 }, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = { Hong Kong, May 31 - June 7, 2014}, abstract = {

Measuring contact forces applied by a hand to a grasped object is a necessary step to understand the mysteries that still hide in the unparalleled human grasping ability. Nevertheless, simultaneous collection of information about the position of contacts and about the magnitude and direction of forces is still an elusive task. In this paper we introduce a wearable device that addresses this problem, and can be used to measure generalized forces during grasping. By assembling two supports around a commercial 6-axis force/torque sensor we obtain a thimble that can be easily positioned on a fingertip. The device is used in conjunction with an active marker-based motion capture system to simultaneously obtain absolute position and orientation of the thimbles, without requiring any assumptions on the kinematics of the hand. Finally, using the contact centroid algorithm, introduced in [1], position of contact points during grasping are determined. This paper shows the design and implementation of the device, as well as some preliminary experimental validation.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/ICRA.2014.6907250 }, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=6907250}, author = {E. Battaglia and G. Grioli and M. G. Catalano and M. Santello and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2307, title = { Three-digit grasp haptic device with variable contact stiffness for rehabilitation and human grasping studies}, booktitle = {22nd Mediterranean Conference of Control and Automation (MED) 2014 }, year = {2014}, pages = {346 - 350}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Palermo, Italy, 16-19 June 2014 }, abstract = {

This paper describes an haptic system designed to vary the stiffness of three contact points in an independent and controllable fashion, by suitably regulating the inner pressure of three pneumatic tactile displays. At the same time, the contact forces exerted by the user are measured by six degree-of-freedom force sensors placed under each finger. This device might be profitably used in hand rehabilitation and human grasping studies. We report and discuss preliminary results on device validation as well as some illustrative measurement examples.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/MED.2014.6961395}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=6961395}, author = {Altobelli, A and M. Bianchi and A. Serio and Baud-Bovy, G and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2037, title = {Velvet Fingers: Grasp Planning and Execution for an Underactuated Gripper with Active Surfaces}, booktitle = {2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation}, year = {2014}, pages = {3669 - 3675}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Hong Kong, May 31 2014-June 7 2014}, abstract = {

In this work we tackle the problem of planning grasps for an underactuated gripper which enable it to retrieve target objects from a cluttered environment. Furthermore, we investigate how additional manipulation capabilities of the gripping device, provided by active surfaces on the inside of the fingers, can lead to performance improvement in the grasp execution process. To this end, we employ a simple strategy, in which the target object is {\textquoteleft}pulled-in{\textquoteright} towards the palm during grasping which results in firm enveloping grasps. We show the effectiveness of the suggested methods by means of experiments conducted in a real-world scenario.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/ICRA.2014.6907390 }, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=6907390}, author = {R. Krug and T. Stoyanov and M. Bonilla and V. Tincani and N. Vaskeviciusz and G Fantoni and A. Birkz and A. Lilienthal and A. Bicchi} } @article {1821, title = {Grasp Analysis Tools for Synergistic Underactuated Robotic Hands}, journal = {International Journal of Robotic Reasearch}, volume = {32}, year = {2013}, month = {11/2013}, pages = {1553 - 1576}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M Gabiccini and E. Farnioli and A. Bicchi} } @conference {1438, title = {Implementation and Control of the Velvet Fingers: a Dexterous Gripper with Active Surfaces}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA2013)}, year = {2013}, pages = {2744 - 2750}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, url = {10.1109/ICRA.2013.6630955 }, author = {V. Tincani and G. Grioli and M. G. Catalano and M. Garabini and S. Grechi and G Fantoni and A. Bicchi} } @article {1683, title = {On Motion and Force Controllability of Precision Grasps with Hands Actuated by Soft Synergies}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Robotics}, volume = {29}, year = {2013}, month = {12/2013}, pages = {1440 - 1456 }, abstract = {

To adapt to many different objects and tasks, hands are very complex systems with many degrees of freedom (DoFs), sensors, and actuators. In robotics, such complexity comes at the cost of size and weight of the hardware of devices, but it strongly affects also the ease of their programming. A possible approach to simplification consists in coupling some of the DOFs, thus affording a reduction of the number of effective inputs, and eventually leading to more efficient, simpler, and reliable designs. Such coupling can be at the software level, to achieve faster, more intuitive programmability or at the hardware level, through either rigid or compliant physical couplings between joints. Physical coupling between actuators and simplification of control through the reduction of independent inputs is also an often-reported interpretation of human hand movement data, where studies have demonstrated that few {\textquotedblleft}postural synergies{\textquotedblright} explain most of the variance in hand configurations used to grasp different objects. Together with beneficial simplifications, the reduction of the number of independent inputs to a few coupled motions or {\textquotedblleft}synergies{\textquotedblright} has also an impact on the ability of the hand to dexterously control grasp forces and in-hand manipulation. This paper aims to develop tools that establish how many synergies should be involved in a grasp to guarantee stability and efficiency, depending on the task and on the hand embodiment. Through the analysis of a quasi-static model, grasp structural properties related to contact force and object motion controllability are defined. Different compliant sources are considered, for a generalization of the discussion. In particular, a compliant model for synergies assumed, referred to as {\textquotedblleft}soft synergies,{\textquotedblright} is discussed. The controllable internal forces and motions of the grasped object are related to the actuated inputs. This paper investigates to what extent a hand with many joints can ex- loit postural synergies to control force and motion of the grasped object.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/TRO.2013.2273849}, author = {D Prattichizzo and M. Malvezzi and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {1664, title = {A synergy-driven approach to a myoelectric hand}, booktitle = {13TH International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics}, year = {2013}, pages = {1 - 6}, address = {June 24-26, 2013, Seattle, WA.}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, url = {10.1109/ICORR.2013.6650377 }, author = {S. B. Godfrey and A. Ajoudani and M. G. Catalano and G. Grioli and A. Bicchi} } @conference {1666, title = {Teleimpedance Control of a Synergy-Driven Anthropomorphic Hand}, booktitle = {IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2013}, year = {2013}, month = {November 3-7}, pages = {1985 - 1991}, address = {Tokyo, Japan}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/IROS.2013.6696620 }, author = {A. Ajoudani and S. B. Godfrey and M. G. Catalano and G. Grioli and N G Tsagarakis and A. Bicchi} } @article {PMGB11, title = {On the Manipulability Ellipsoids of Underactuated Robotic Hands with Compliance Robotics and Autonomous Systems}, journal = {Robotics and Autonomous Systems, special issue on Autonomous Grasping}, volume = {60}, year = {2012}, note = {

in press, Available online 17 August 2011

}, pages = {337 - 346}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1016/j.robot.2011.07.014}, author = {D Prattichizzo and M. Malvezzi and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {BSTCB12, title = {On the Use of Postural Synergies to Improve Human Hand Pose Reconstruction}, booktitle = {Haptics Symposium}, year = {2012}, month = {March 4 - 7}, pages = {91 - 98}, address = {Vancouver, Canada}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M. Bianchi and P Salaris and A. Turco and N. Carbonaro and A. Bicchi} } @conference {GBB11, title = {Dynamic Optimization of Tendon Tensions in Biomorphically Designed Hands with Rolling Constraints}, booktitle = {2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation}, year = {2011}, month = {May 9 - 13}, pages = {2698 - 2704}, address = {Shangai, China}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M Gabiccini and M. Branchetti and A. Bicchi} } @conference {SCGGB11, title = {The Hand Embodied}, booktitle = {Automatica.it 2011}, year = {2011}, note = {

poster presentation

}, month = {September, 7 - 9}, address = {Pisa, Italy}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Serio and M. G. Catalano and G. Grioli and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {BSB11, title = {Haptic interfaces: new strategies to convey tactile information}, booktitle = {Automatica.it 2011}, year = {2011}, note = {

poster presentation

}, month = {September, 7 - 9}, address = {Pisa, Italy}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M. Bianchi and E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi} } @article {BGS11, title = {Modeling Natural and Artificial Hands with Synergies}, journal = {Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B}, volume = {366}, year = {2011}, pages = {3153 - 3161}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1098/rstb.2011.0152}, author = {A. Bicchi and M Gabiccini and M. Santello} } @article {GBPM11, title = {On the Role of Hand Synergies in the Optimal Choice of Grasping Forces}, journal = {Autonomous Robots [special issue on RSS2010]}, volume = {31}, number = {2 - 3}, year = {2011}, pages = {235 - 252}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1007/s10514-011-9244-1}, author = {M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi and D Prattichizzo and M. Malvezzi} } @conference {GFMB11, title = {Structural Properties of Compliant Grasps with Underactuated Robotic Hands}, booktitle = {XX Congresso Aimeta}, year = {2011}, note = {

ISBN 978-88-906340-1-7 (online); ISBN 978-88-906340-0-0 (print)

}, month = {September, 12}, address = {Bologna, Italy}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M Gabiccini and E. Farnioli and M. Malvezzi and A. Bicchi} } @conference {PMB10, title = {On motion and force controllability of grasping hands with postural synergies}, booktitle = {Proceedings of Robotics: Science and Systems}, year = {2010}, month = {June}, address = {Zaragoza, Spain}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {D Prattichizzo and M. Malvezzi and A. Bicchi} } @conference {BSSB, title = {A new fabric based softness display}, booktitle = {Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environments and Teleoperator Systems}, year = {2010}, note = {

Best Student Paper and Best Paper Award Finalist

}, month = {March 25-16}, pages = {108 - 112}, address = {Waltham,Massachusetts, USA}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M. Bianchi and A. Serio and E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi} } @article {SBGBB10, title = {Rendering Softness: Integration of kinaesthetic and cutaneous information in a haptic device}, journal = {Transactions on Haptics}, volume = {3}, number = {2}, year = {2010}, note = {

Best Student Paper and Best Paper Award Finalist

}, pages = {109 - 118}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {E. P. Scilingo and M. Bianchi and G. Grioli and A. Bicchi} } @conference {BG10, title = {On the Role of Hand Synergies in the Optimal Choice of Grasping Forces}, booktitle = {Robotics Science and Systems}, year = {2010}, month = {June, 27}, address = {Zaragoza, Spain}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {BGSSB, title = {Validation of a Virtual Reality Environment to Study Anticipatory Modulation of Digit Forces and Position}, booktitle = {Eurohaptics 2010}, series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, volume = {6192/2010}, year = {2010}, month = {July, 8 - 10}, pages = {136 - 143}, address = {Amsterdam (The Netherlands)}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M. Bianchi and G. Grioli and E. P. Scilingo and M. Santello and A. Bicchi} } @conference {BSSB09, title = {A new softness display based on bi-elastic fabric}, booktitle = {World Haptics}, year = {2009}, note = {

poster presentation

}, month = {March, 18 - 20}, pages = {382 - 383}, address = {Salt Lake City, USA}, abstract = {

Haptic perception allows to explore and recognize an object by conveying several physical information to mechano-receptors and thermo-receptors lying into our skin throughout the body. The term

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M. Bianchi and A. Serio and E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi} } @conference {BSSB, title = {Rendering softness: a new fabric yielding display}, booktitle = {Workshop for young researchers on human - friendly robotics - Symposium}, year = {2009}, month = {December 3}, address = {Sestri levante (Ge), Italy}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M. Bianchi and A. Serio and E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi} } @article {B08, title = {Macchine e Mani: Immagini, Immaginazione e Creazione}, journal = {Letteratura e Arte}, number = {6}, year = {2008}, pages = {13-21}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Bicchi} } @conference {RMSBR08, title = {A Permanent Magnets Exciter for MRFs-based Haptic Interfaces}, booktitle = {IEEE Conference on Electromagnetic Field Computation}, year = {2008}, address = {Atene}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {R. Rizzo and A. Musolino and E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi and M. Raugi} } @article {HB08, title = {The Sense of Touch and its Rendering: Progresses in Haptics Research}, volume = {45/2008}, year = {2008}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin, Heidelberg}, abstract = {

Preface: It is no coincidence that in many languages, deeply involving emotions and feelings are described as "touching". Touch appears indeed to be the most direct, less intellectually mediated sense. As such, it should be a fundamental ingredient of any system aimed at providing compelling sensations of remote presence. Generation of high-definition haptic feedback will be crucially important for driving a sense of Presence in next generation immersive VR and teleoperation systems. The perspective in which this book is conceived is that of understanding and enabling an experience of presence not limited to "being there", but extended to "being in touch" with the virtual or remote surroundings. Despite of numerous technological advances in this field it appears that the development of fully immersive haptic displays cannot proceed by technological innovations alone but requires a deep understanding and utilization of the psychophysical mechanisms of human haptic perception. On one hand, technological innovations are needed to increase the richness and accuracy of physically generated haptic stimuli. The generation of a one-to-one copy of the real world seems, however, to be unfeasible due to the inherent complexity of the necessary devices and stringent physiological and mechanical constraints. On the other hand, advances in the understanding of the information processing of the multidimensional sense of touch contribute to overcome these fundamental technological constraints. Limitations of the human perceptual system can be exploited to provide a realistic haptic sensation without getting all the physical parameters completely right. Perceptual limitations already helped in the design of advanced visual and auditory displays. This book summarizes main results of the TOUCH-HapSys research project financially supported by the 5th Framework IST Programme of the European Union. It provides an important contribution towards a new generation of high-fidelity haptic display technologies. The uniqueness of this book is its interdisciplinary approach highlighting the field of haptic research from a neuropsychological as well as a technological point of view. It provides readers with recent advances in the study of human haptic (kinesthetic, tactile, temperature) and mul-timodal (visual, auditory, haptic) perception mechanisms and with innovations in the field of haptic display technology. It shows that both lines of research are intimately connected, not only because biological sciences inspire and enable technology improvement, but also because novel devices offer new facilities for the experimental testing of psychophysical hypotheses. This book is structured in two parts: A. Fundamental Psychophysical and Neuropsychological Research and B. Technology and Applications. Chapters in part A. concentrate on the study of the basic mechanisms of touch, involving neurophysiology, psychophysics, and functional mappings in the brain. In-depth study of the psychophysiology of the sense of touch establishes connections between haptic fundamental perception and virtual-reality oriented technology. Part B. addresses new technologies to significantly improve haptic and multimodal feedback systems. These include novel actuator designs, software solutions for haptic rendering, and applications. The two parts are not however separated, and the many connections and synergies between the two complementary domains of research are highlighted in the text. Finally the editors would like to thank all the authors for their valuable contributions to this book. The quality and freshness found in each chapter are due to the excellent work carried out by the authors.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, editor = {A. Bicchi and M. Buss and M. Ernst and A. Peer} } @inbook {HB08-1, title = {The Sense of Touch and its Rendering: Progresses in Haptics Research}, series = {Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR)}, volume = {45/2008}, year = {2008}, pages = {39 - 60}, publisher = {Springer}, organization = {Springer}, type = {Chapter}, chapter = {The Role of Tactile Flow in Processing Dynamic Haptic Stimuli}, address = {Berlin, Heidelberg}, abstract = {

Dynamic stimuli in visual and tactile sensory modalities share fundamental psychophysical features that can be explained by similar computational models. In vision, information about relative motion between objects and the observer are mainly processed by optic flow, which is a 2D field of velocities associated with variation of brightness patterns in the image plane. It provides important information about cues for region and boundary segmentation, shape recovery, and so on. For instance, radial patterns of optic flow are often used to estimate time before contact with an approaching object. We put forward the hypothesis that a similar behavior can be present in the tactile domain, in which an analogous paradigm to optic flow might exist. Moreover, as optic flow is also invoked to explain several visual illusions, including the well-known "barber-pole" effect and Ouchi

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {E. P. Scilingo and N. Sgambelluri and A. Bicchi}, editor = {A. Bicchi and M. Buss and M. Ernst and A. Peer} } @inbook {HB08-2, title = {The Sense of Touch and its Rendering: Progresses in Haptics Research}, series = {Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR)}, volume = {45/2008}, year = {2008}, pages = {155-178}, publisher = {Springer}, organization = {Springer}, type = {Chapter}, chapter = {Rheological Device}, address = {Berlin, Heidelberg}, abstract = {

In this work we investigate the possibility of mimicking haptic perception by using rheological materials. An analysis of the rheological behaviour of some "smart fluids", such as Electro-rheological Fluids (ERFs) and Magneto-rheological Fluids (MRFs), is provided to design new haptic interfaces capable of reproducing shape and compliance of some virtual objects. Some theoretical design considerations are discussed and supported by magnetic simulations implemented by means of a numerical code. Several prototypes were designed and realized through a progressive enhancement of performance up to a final 3D immersive device. Furthermore, to assess performance a set of psychophysical tests was carried out and experimental results in terms of softness and shape recognition are reported.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {N. Sgambelluri and E. P. Scilingo and R. Rizzo and A. Bicchi}, editor = {A. Bicchi and M. Buss and M. Ernst and A. Peer} } @article {VHTRTZGCSSGPSBPDRL08, title = {Sensing Glove for Brain Studies: Design and assessment of its Compatibility for fMRI with a Robust Test}, journal = {IEEE - ASME Transactions on Mechatronics}, volume = {13}, number = {3}, year = {2008}, pages = {345-354}, abstract = {

In this paper, we describe a biomimetic-fabric-based sensing glove that can be used tomonitor hand posture and gesture. Our device is made of a distributed sensor network of piezoresistive conductive elastomers integrated into an elastic fabric. This solution does not affect natural movement and hand gestures, and can be worn for a long time with no discomfort. The glove could be fruitfully employed in behavioral and functional studies with functional MRI (fMRI) during specific tactile or motor tasks. To assess MR compatibility of the system, a statistical test on phantoms is introduced. This test can also be used for testing the compatibility of mechatronic devices designed to produce different stimuli inside the MR environment. We propose a statistical test to evaluate changes in SNR and time-domain standard deviations between image sequences acquired under different experimental conditions. fMRI experiments on subjects wearing the glove are reported. The reproducibility of fMRIresults obtained with andwithout the glove was estimated. A good similarity between the activated regions was found in the two conditions.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {N. Vanello and V. Hartwig and M. Tesconi and E. Ricciardi and A. Tognetti and G. Zupone and R. Gassert and D. Chapuis and N. Sgambelluri and E. P. Scilingo and G. Giovannetti and V. Positano and M. F. Santarelli and A. Bicchi and P. Pietrini and D. De Rossi and L. Landini} } @article {BRB07, title = {Tactile flow explains haptic counterparts of common visual illusions}, journal = {Brain Res Bull.}, volume = {75}, number = {6}, year = {2008}, month = {April 15}, pages = {737-741}, abstract = {

Interaction with the external world requires the ability to perceive dynamic changes in complex sensorial input and react promptly. Here we show that perception of dynamic stimuli in the visual and tactile sensory modalities share fundamental psychophysical aspects that can be explained by similar computational models. In vision, optic flow provides information on relative motion between the individual and the content of percept. For instance, radial patterns of optic flow are used to estimate time before contact with an approaching object4. Similarly, in the tactile modality, radial patterns of stimuli provide information on softness of probed objects3. Optic flow is also invoked to explain several visual illusions, including the well-known "barber-pole" effect10. Here we introduce a computational model of tactile flow, which is intimately related to existing models for the visual counterpart. The model accounts for psychophysical aspects of dynamic tactile perception and predicts illusory phenomena in the tactile domain, analogous to the barber-pole effect. When subjects touched translating pads with differently oriented gratings, they perceived a direction of motion that was significantly biased towards the orientation of the gratings. Therefore, these findings indicate that visual and tactile flow share similarities at the psychophysical and computational level and may be intended for similar perceptive goals. Results of this analysis have impact on the engineering of better haptic and multimodal interfaces for human-computer interaction.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Bicchi and E. P. Scilingo and E. Ricciardi and P. Pietrini} } @conference {1470, title = {An Artificial Neural Network approach for Haptic Discrimination in Minimally Invasive Surgery}, booktitle = {Robot and Human interactive Communication, 2007. RO-MAN 2007. The 16th IEEE International Symposium on}, year = {2007}, pages = {25{\textendash}30}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {N. Sgambelluri and G. Valenza and M. Ferro and G. Pioggia and E. P. Scilingo and D. De Rossi and A. Bicchi} } @article {BHM07, title = {The Effect of Visual Experience on the Development of Functional Architecture in hMT+}, journal = {Cerebral Cortex}, volume = {17}, number = {12}, year = {2007}, note = {

[Epub ahead of print]

}, month = {March 19}, pages = {2933 - 2939}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, abstract = {

We investigated whether the visual hMT+ cortex plays a role in supramodal representation of sensory flow, not mediated by visual mental imagery. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure neural activity in sighted and congenitally blind individuals during passive perception of optic and tactile flows. Visual motion-responsive cortex, including hMT+, was identified in the lateral occipital and inferior temporal cortices of the sighted subjects by response to optic flow. Tactile flow perception in sighted subjects activated the more anterior part of these cortical regions but deactivated the more posterior part. By contrast, perception of tactile flow in blind subjects activated the full extent, including the more posterior part. These results demonstrate that activation of hMT+ and surrounding cortex by tactile flow is not mediated by visual mental imagery and that the functional organization of hMT+ can develop to subserve tactile flow perception in the absence of any visual experience. Moreover, visual experience leads to a segregation of the motion-responsive occipitotemporal cortex into an anterior subregion involved in the representation of both optic and tactile flows and a posterior subregion that processes optic flow only.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {E. Ricciardi and N. Vanello and L. Sani and C. Gentili and E. P. Scilingo and L. Landini and M. Guazzelli and A. Bicchi and J. V. Haxby and P. Pietrini} } @inbook {HCVRSGSPPLB07, title = {Electrocutaneous stimulation of skin mechanoreceptors for tactile studies with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging}, booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Healthcare Information Systems}, year = {2007}, pages = {497 - 503}, publisher = {Medical Information Science}, organization = {Medical Information Science}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {V. Hartwig and C. Cappelli and N. Vanello and E. Ricciardi and E. P. Scilingo and G. Giovannetti and M. F. Santarelli and V. Positano and A. Bicchi and P. Pietrini and L. Landini} } @article {RSSRB07, title = {Electromagnetic Modeling and Design of Haptic Interfaces Prototypes Based on MagnetoRheological Fluids}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Magnetics}, volume = {43}, number = {9-1}, year = {2007}, pages = {3586-3600}, abstract = {

This paper deals with design and implementation of innovative haptic interfaces based on Magnetorheological fluids (MRFs). This pioneering research work consists in developing 2D and quasi-3D MRF-based devices capable of suitably energizing the fluid with a magnetic field in order to build figures which can be directly squeezed by hands. These devices are able to properly create a distribution of magnetic field over time and space inducing the fluid to assume desired shape and compliance. We implemented different prototypes whose synthesis and design phase, here described in detail, was prepared by preliminary simulations obtained by means of software based on a 3D Finite Element code. In this way, both magnetic field and shear stress profiles inside the fluid can be carefully predicted. Finally, performance of these devices was evaluated and assessed.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {R. Rizzo and N. Sgambelluri and E. P. Scilingo and M. Raugi and A. Bicchi} } @conference {SSTB-WH07, title = {Integrating Two Haptic devices for Performance Enhancement}, booktitle = {World Haptics Conference 2007}, year = {2007}, pages = {139-144}, abstract = {

This paper deals with a new configuration for a haptic system, which is able to simultaneously replicate independent force/displacement and force/area behaviors of a given material. Being force/area information a relevant additional haptic cue for improving softness discrimination, this system allows to extend the range of materials whose rheology can be carefully mimicked. Moreover, according to the Hertz theory, two objects with different curvature radius having the same force/displacement behavior can respond with different contact area to the same applied force. These behaviors can be effectively replicated by the integrated haptic system here proposed enabling and independent control of force/displacement and force/area. The system is comprised of a commercial device (Delta Haptic Device) serially coupled with a Contact Area Spread Rate (CASR) device. Two specimens of a material and two of another one, all with different curvature radii, were identified and modeled in terms of force/area and force/displacement. These behaviors were successfully tracked by the integrated haptic system here proposed.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {E. P. Scilingo and N. Sgambelluri and G. Tonietti and A. Bicchi} } @conference {VHTZSTRSBPDRL07, title = {An MRI Compatibility Study of a Fabric Sensing Glove for Sensory-Motor Brain Activity Exploration}, booktitle = {The 10th Annual International Workshop on Presence}, year = {2007}, pages = {79-83}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {N. Vanello and V. Hartwig and M. Tesconi and G. Zupone and N. Sgambelluri and A. Tognetti and E. Ricciardi and E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi and P. Pietrini and D. De Rossi and L. Landini}, editor = {Laura Moreno, Starlab Barcelona, S.L.} } @conference {GVetal06, title = {Active Mechatronic Interface for Haptic Perception Studies with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Compatibility and Design Criteria}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation}, year = {2006}, pages = {3832-3837}, abstract = {

Functional brain exploration methodologies such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), are critical tools to study perceptual and cognitive processes. In order to develop complex and well controlled fMRI paradigms, researchers are interested in using active interfaces with electrically powered actuators and sensors. Due to the particularity of the MR environment, safety and compatibility criteria have to be strictly followed in order to avoid risks to the subject under test, to the operators or to the environment, as well as to avoid artifacts in the images. This paper describes the design of an fMRI compatible mechatronic interface based on MR compatibility tests of materials and actuators. In particular, a new statistical test looks at the mean and variations of activity as a time series. The device with two degrees of freedom, allowing one translation with positionfeedback along a horizontal axis and one rotation about a vertical axis linked to the translation, was realized to investigate the brain mechanisms of dynamic tactile perception tasks. It can be used to move and orient various objects below the finger for controlled tactile stimulation. The MR compatibility of the complete interface is shown using the same statistical test as well as a functional study with a human subject.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {R. Gassert and N. Vanello and D. Chapuis and V. Hartwig and E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi and L. Landini and E. Burdet and H. Bleuler} } @conference {SSBRR, title = {Advanced Modeling and preliminary psychophysical experiments for a free-hand haptic device}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Robots and Intelligent Systems - IROS06}, year = {2006}, month = {October}, pages = {1558-1563}, abstract = {

In this paper we report on a new improved free-hand haptic interface based on magnetorheological fluids (MRFs). MRFs are smart materials which change their rheology according to an external magnetic field. The new architecture here proposed results from the development and improvement of earlier prototypes. The innovative idea behind this device is to allow subjects interacting directly with an object, whose rheology is rapidly and easily changeable, freely moving their hands without rigid mechanical linkages. Numerical advanced simulation tests using algorithms based on finite element methods have been implemented, in order to analyze and predict the spatial distribution of the magnetic field. A special focus was laid on investigating on how the magnetic filed profile is altered by the introduction of the hand. Possible solutions were proposed to overcome this perturbation. Finally some preliminary psychophysical tests in order to assess the performance of the device are reported and discussed.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {N. Sgambelluri and E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi and R. Rizzo and M. Raugi} } @conference {ricciardi05:_brain, title = {Brain response to visual, tactile and auditory flow in sighted and blind individuals supports a supramodal functional organization in hMT complex}, booktitle = {Proc. 12th International Conference on Functional Mapping of Human Brain Mapping}, volume = {31}, number = {1}, year = {2006}, note = {

Florence

}, pages = {512 TH-P}, publisher = {Elsevier}, organization = {Elsevier}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {E. Ricciardi and L. Sani and C. Gentili and D. Bonino and N. Vanello and J. V. Haxby and E. Seifritz and M. Guazzelli and L. Landini and A. Bicchi and Di Salle, F and P. Pietrini} } @conference {HCV06, title = {A Compatible Electrocutaneous Display for functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging application}, booktitle = {Proc. 28th IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference}, year = {2006}, note = {(poster presentation)}, pages = {100-102}, abstract = {In this paper we propose an MR (Magnetic Resonance) compatible electrocutaneous stimulator able to inject an electric current, variable in amplitude and frequency, into the fingertips in order to elicit tactile skin receptors (mechanoreceptors). The desired goal is to evoke specific tactile sensations selectively stimulating skin receptors by means of an electric current in place of mechanical stimuli. The field of application ranges from functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) tactile studies to augmented reality technology. The device here proposed is designed using safety criteria in order to comply with the threshold of voltage and current permitted by regulations. Moreover, MR safety and compatibility criteria were considered in order to perform experiments inside the MR scanner during an fMRI acquisition for functional brain activation analysis. Psychophysical laboratory tests are performed in order to define the different evoked tactile sensation. After verifying the device MR safety and compatibility on a phantom, a test on a human subject during fMRI acquisition is performed to visualize the brain areas activated by the simulated tactile sensation.}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {V. Hartwig and C. Cappelli and N. Vanello and E. Ricciardi and E. P. Scilingo and G. Giovannetti and M. F. Santarelli and V. Positano and L. Landini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {SRSRB06, title = {Free Hand Haptic Interfaces Based on Magnetorheological Fluids}, booktitle = {Proc. 14th Symp. on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems}, year = {2006}, note = {

Poster presentation

}, month = {March}, pages = {367-371}, abstract = {

This paper is concerned with exploring the possibility of using Magneto-Rheological Fluids (MRF) as haptic interface. MRF are special materials capable of changing their rheological behaviour with an external magnetic field. This property suggested us to use MRF to mimic virtual objects whose compliance can be gradually modulated. Several architectures of prototypes have been envisaged. The general scheme of both prototypes refers to a Haptic Black Box (HBB) concept, intended as a box where the operator can poke his/her bare hand, and interact with the virtual object by freely moving the hand without mechanical constraints. In this way sensory receptors on the whole operator

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {N. Sgambelluri and R. Rizzo and E. P. Scilingo and M. Raugi and A. Bicchi} } @inbook {SSB06, title = {Minimally Invasive Therapies \& Novel Embedded Technology Systems}, booktitle = {ARISER 2006 Augmented Reality in Surgery}, year = {2006}, pages = {133-142}, abstract = {

Recent developments in advanced interface technology allowed to implement new haptic device for biomedical applications. Specifically, several innovative and more effective tools that allow people to interact by touch with virtual objects have been developed. Besides several applications such as gaming, entertainment, virtual reality, an important and promising field of application is the surgical simulation. Novice surgeons can be able to practice their first incisions without actually cutting anyone. Simulation for surgical training is a major focus for several research activity during the last few years. Simulating an organ is not easy, because is more complicated to model than is a common physical object, e.g. a ball. In this chapter we report several examples of haptic interfaces and introduce new technologies for implementation.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {E. P. Scilingo and N. Sgambelluri and A. Bicchi}, editor = {S. Casciaro and A. Distante} } @article {BRRS-TM, title = {Analysis and Design of an Electromagnetic System for the Characterization of Magneto-Rheological Fluids for Haptic Interfaces}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Magnetics}, volume = {41}, number = {5}, year = {2005}, pages = {1876 - 1879}, abstract = {

In this paper the synthesis and design of a new device for the energization and characterization of Magneto-Rheological Fluids (MRF) for haptic interfaces are presented. Due to the core structure and feeding conditions, only a 3D numerical analysis provides an accurate prediction of the electromagnetic quantities and the rheological behavior of an excited specimen. The design constraints are shown in details and the results in terms of magnetic field inside the fluid and its spatial resolution are discussed.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {A. Bicchi and M. Raugi and R. Rizzo and N. Sgambelluri} } @conference {DSSB-WH05, title = {Does Active Exploration Suppress Tactile Flow Perception?}, booktitle = {Proc. First World Haptics Conference}, year = {2005}, pages = {660-661}, abstract = {

In this paper we report on results of a set of tests in which a group of subjects were asked to trace a straight line with the forefinger while actively scanning over a textured surface. A pattern of bumped dots, randomly distributed, and a diagonal striped pattern were used in order to investigate the occurrence of misleading perceptions based on the aperture problem of tactile flow during an active exploration. Obtained results are compared with findings achieved from a previous experiment based on passive exploration.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {D. Dente and E. P. Scilingo and N. Sgambelluri and A. Bicchi} } @conference {LSFD-06, title = {Flusso tattile ed illusione sensoriale}, booktitle = {SINC, Congresso nazionale della Societ}, year = {2005}, month = {May}, pages = {245-249}, address = {Roma, Italy}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Bicchi and E. P. Scilingo} } @article {pietrini2005ois, title = {Oltre le immagini sensoriali: la rappresentazione degli oggetti nella via visiva ventrale}, journal = {Neurological Sciences}, volume = {26}, year = {2005}, pages = {S81{\textendash}S83}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {P. Pietrini and E. Ricciardi and C. Gentili and D. Bonino and N. Vanello and L. Sani and S. Danti and M. Guazzelli and A. Bicchi and TE Vecchi} } @conference {SRPB-05, title = {Optic and tactile flow: does a supramodal response exist?}, booktitle = {International multisensory research forum, 6th Annual meeting}, year = {2005}, month = {June}, address = {Rovereto, Italy}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {E. P. Scilingo and E. Ricciardi and P. Pietrini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {BDSS-WH05, title = {Perceptual Bias in Tactile Flow}, booktitle = {Proc. First World Haptics Conference}, year = {2005}, pages = {17-20}, abstract = {

In this paper we report on results of a psychophysical experiment in which the optic illusion of Ouchi is reproduced in the tactile domain. In the vision field, when eyes scan over a texture grid, consisting in two rectangular checkerboard patterns oriented in orthogonal directions, the inset pattern appears to move relatively to the surrounding grid. A simplified 3D version of this pattern was realized and a group of subjects were asked to touch it while it was vibrating. Outcomes of this experiment are discussed in terms of tactile flow and the related aperture problem.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {A. Bicchi and D. Dente and E. P. Scilingo and N. Sgambelluri} } @conference {ricciardi05:_supram_mt, title = {Supramodal response of human MT+ complex to visual and tactile perception of flow as demonstrated by fMRI studies in sighted and congenitally blind individuals}, booktitle = {11th annual meeting of the organization for Human Brain Mapping}, volume = {1}, year = {2005}, note = {

Toronto

}, pages = {129-129}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {E. Ricciardi and L. Sani and C. Gentili and N. Vanello and J. V. Haxby and L. Landini and A. Bicchi and P. Pietrini} } @inbook {BSDDS05, title = {Tactile Flow and Haptic Discrimination of Softness}, booktitle = {Multi-point Interaction with Real and Virtual Objects}, series = {STAR - Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics}, number = {18}, year = {2005}, pages = {165-176}, publisher = {Springer Verlag}, organization = {Springer Verlag}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {A. Bicchi and E. P. Scilingo and D. Dente and N. Sgambelluri}, editor = {F. Barbagli and D Prattichizzo and K. Salisbury} } @conference {SRSRB04, title = {Analysis and Design of a New Haptic Box Display Based on Magneto-Rheological Fluids}, booktitle = {Proc. Int. Conf. Eurohaptics 2004}, year = {2004}, month = {June}, pages = {442-445}, address = {Munich, Germany}, abstract = {

In this paper we describe a design of an innovative immersive Haptic Black Box (HBB) based on Magneto Rheological Fluids (MRF). By exploiting results from an accurate analysis performed on a previously operating haptic display a new device capable of exciting the MRF with improved performance in terms of magnetic field intensity and spatial resolution has been developed. Due to the core structure and feeding conditions, only a 3D numerical analysis, taking into account the material non-linearity, provides an accurate prediction of the excitation field and, consequently, of the rheological behavior of the uid. The results of the present paper will be used in subsequent work where the realization of the prototype and the results of several psychophysical tests on excited MRF in terms of softness and/or shape reconstruction will be described.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {N. Sgambelluri and R. Rizzo and E. P. Scilingo and M. Raugi and A. Bicchi} } @conference {BRRS, title = {Analysis and Design of an Electromagnetic System for the Characterization of Magneto-Rheological Fluids for Haptic Interfaces}, booktitle = {Proc. 11th Biennial IEEE Conference on Electromagnetic Field Computation (CEFC 2004).}, year = {2004}, month = {June}, address = {Seoul, Korea}, abstract = {

In this paper the synthesis and design of a new device for the energization and characterization of Magneto-Rheological Fluids (MRF) for haptic interfaces are presented. Due to the core structure and feeding conditions, only a 3D numerical analysis provides an accurate prediction of the electromagnetic quantities and the rheological behavior of an excited specimen. The design constraints are shown in details and the results in terms of magnetic field inside the fluid and its spatial resolution are discussed.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {A. Bicchi and M. Raugi and R. Rizzo and N. Sgambelluri} } @conference {DPSB04, title = {A compatibility test for tactile displays designed for fMRI studies.}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the EuroHaptics 2004 (Technische Universitat Munchen, Germany June 5-7, 2004)}, year = {2004}, pages = {456-458}, abstract = {

The purpose of this document is to provide a compatibility test for mechatronic devices to be used within a diagnostic MR environment. In order to design new devices that can produce tactile stimuli of different nature inside the MRI environment, compatibility tests with several materials and mechatronic devices are reported. Results of these experiments are analyzed in order to evaluate artefacts caused by the presence and actuation of the devices.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {V. Hartwig and N. Vanello and R. Gassert and D. Chapuis and M. F. Santarelli and V. Positano and E. Ricciardi and P. Pietrini and L. Landini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {DPSB04, title = {Integration of Tactile Flow from Multi-Finger and Multi-Dimensional Information}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the EuroHaptics 2004 (Technische Universitat Munchen, Germany June 5-7, 2004)}, year = {2004}, pages = {282-289}, abstract = {

In this paper we pursue an investigation on the role of perceptual flow in the tactile domain, which appears to be a primary source for information such as shape, motion and softness. In this paper, we report on a set of psychophysical experiments involving how humans integrate incoherent tactile flow stimuli. Two experiments are reported, whereby discordant stimuli are conveyed to the subject by two different fingertips, or by two different families of mechanoreceptors in the same finger. Results from the first experiment show that, in these conditions, the tactile and the optic perceptive systems act in a very similar way. In the second experiment the interaction between tactile flow and friction generate an illusory phenomenon peculiar of the tactile system.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {D. Dente and A. Pisani and E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi} } @conference {HBM04, title = {Perception of Optic and Tactile Flow Both Activate V5/MT cortical complex in the human brain}, booktitle = {10th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping}, year = {2004}, abstract = {

V5/MT complex responds selectively to perception of optic flow (Morrone et al., Nature Neurosci , 2001). Since similarities exist between visual and tactile perception, we hypothesized that tactile flow might also rely on V5/MT response. We and others have shown recently that visual extrastriate cortical areas respond both during visual and tactile recognition of objects, indicating that these regions are organized in a supramodal fashion. In this study, we measured neural response evoked during visual and tactile perception of coherently moving dot patterns to test the hypothesis that V5/MT may be supramodally organized and may respond also to tactile stimulation.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {N. Vanello and E. Ricciardi and D. Dente and N. Sgambelluri and E. P. Scilingo and C. Gentili and L. Sani and V. Positano and M. F. Santarelli and M. Guazzelli and J. V. Haxby and L. Landini and A. Bicchi and P. Pietrini} } @conference {RVDSSGSPSGHLBP04, title = {Perception of visual and tactile flow activates common cortical areas in the human brain.}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the EuroHaptics 2004 (Technische Universitat Munchen, Germany June 5-7, 2004)}, year = {2004}, pages = {290-292}, abstract = {

We report results of a pilot study using functional magnetic resonance imaging aimed at determining the neural correlates of tactile flow. We hypothesized that brain response to tactile flow would involve the same cortical areas (V5/MT) that respond to optic flow. Our results showed that V5/MT cortex indeed is activated by tactile flow perception. These findings are consistent with a supramodal organization of brain regions involved in optic and tactile flow processing.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {E. Ricciardi and N. Vanello and D. Dente and N. Sgambelluri and E. P. Scilingo and C. Gentili and L. Sani and V. Positano and M. F. Santarelli and M. Guazzelli and J. V. Haxby and L. Landini and A. Bicchi and P. Pietrini} } @conference {SSDRB03, title = {Haptic Displays Based on Magnetorheological Fluids: Design, Realization and Psychophysical Validation}, booktitle = {Proc. 11th Symp. on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems}, year = {2003}, pages = {10{\textendash}15}, abstract = {

In this paper we explore the possibility of using magnetorheological (MR) fluids in haptic interfaces, exploiting their property of changing the rheological behaviour by tuning an external magnetic field. In particular, we propose two different prototypes of haptic display, for pinch grasp and for whole-hand immersive exploration. We briefly report on the design of these devices, describe few psychophysical experiments to assess their performance, and report on the experimental results. Such investigation is rather encouraging, and provides reliable cues as to how MR fluid based devices can be designed for haptic display applications.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {E. P. Scilingo and N. Sgambelluri and D. De Rossi and A. Bicchi} } @conference {BDS03, title = {Haptic Illusions Induced by Tactile Flow}, booktitle = {EuroHaptics Conference}, year = {2003}, pages = {2412-2417}, abstract = {

In this paper we report on a set of experiments involving perceptual illusions elicited by dynamic tactile stimulation of fingertips. These misperceptions are akin to some well studied optical illusions, which have been given an explanation in terms of the mechanisms of optic flow perception. We hypothesize that a similar perceptual mechanism exists for tactile flow, which is related to how humans perceive relative motion and pressure between the fingertips and objects in contact. We present a computational model of tactile flow, and discuss how it relates to accepted models of the neurophyisiology of touch. A particularly interesting phenomenon observed under some experimental circumstances, consisting of an incoherent tactile perception generating what we call a tactile vertigo, can be explained in terms of this model. The proposed tactile flow model also explains other phenomena observed in the past (namely, the Contact Area Spread Rate effect), and is of importance in designing simpler, more effective devices for artificial haptic sensing and displays.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {A. Bicchi and D. Dente and E. P. Scilingo} } @conference {SSDRB03, title = {Towards a Haptic Black Box: Magnetorheological fluid based display for softness and shape discrimination}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation}, year = {2003}, month = {May}, pages = {2412-2417}, address = {Taipei, Taiwan}, abstract = {

In this paper we propose an innovative prototype of a haptic display for whole-hand immersive exploration. We envision a new concept of haptic display, the Haptic Black Box concept, which can be imagined as a box where the operator can poke his/her bare hand, and interact with the virtual object by freely moving the hand without mechanical constraints. In this way sensory receptors on the whole operator{\textquoteright}s hand would be excited, rather than restricting to just one or few fingertips or phalanges. To progress towards such a challenging goal, magnetorheological (MR) fluids represent a very interesting technology. These fluids are composed of micron-sized, magnetizable particles immersed in a synthetic oil. Exposure to an external magnetic field induces in the fluid a change in rheological behaviour turning it into a near-solid in few milliseconds. By removing the magnetic field, the fluid quickly returns to its liquid state. We briefly report on the design of this device, describe psychophysical experiments to assess performance for softness and shape exploration, and report on the experimental results.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {E. P. Scilingo and N. Sgambelluri and D. De Rossi and A. Bicchi} } @conference {PB02, title = {Grasp Control: a General Manipulation System Approach}, booktitle = {Proc. Int. Works. Towards Intelligent Robotic Manipulation}, year = {2002}, month = {September}, publisher = {IEEE/RSJ IROS}, organization = {IEEE/RSJ IROS}, address = {Lausanne}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {D Prattichizzo and A. Bicchi}, editor = {C. Melchiorri and P. J. Sanz and R. Molfino} } @conference {BSSDR02, title = {Haptic Interfaces Based on Magnetorheological Fluids}, booktitle = {Proc.2th Int. Conf. Eurohaptics 2002}, year = {2002}, month = {July}, pages = {6-11}, abstract = {

In this paper we present an innovative application of magnetorheological (MR) fluids to haptic interfaces. These materials consist of a suspension of a micron-sized, magnetizable particles in a synthetic oil. Exposure to an external magnetic field induces in the fluid a change in rheological behaviour turning it into a near-solid in few milliseconds. Just as quickly, the fluid can be returned to its liquid state by the removal of the field. MR fluids are already present on the market, used in devices such as valves, brakes, clutches, and dampers. In this paper we investigate the possibility of using MR fluids to mimic the compliance, damping, creep (in other terms, the rheology) of materials in order to realize a haptic display and we propose two different implementations. Here we only outline the first scheme, whose experimental results have been reported in our previous work, and will describe the second one. In this latter scheme we set up a psychophysical protocol where a group of volunteers were asked to interact with the MR fluid duly excited and qualitative results are discussed.

}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {A. Bicchi and E. P. Scilingo and N. Sgambelluri and D. De Rossi} } @conference {SBDR-01, title = {Haptic devices for minimally invasive surgery}, booktitle = {Proc. Int. Worksh. on Electroactive Polymers and Biosystems}, year = {2001}, month = {July}, pages = {194-198}, address = {Lucca, Italy}, keywords = {Haptics}, author = {E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi and D. De Rossi} } @unpublished {B02, title = {Machine hand design for dexterity, robustness of grasp, and interaction with humans}, year = {2001}, note = {

to appear (?) in Human and Machine Haptics

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robot Hands}, author = {A. Bicchi}, editor = {M. Cutkosky and R. Howe and J. K. Salisbury and M. Srinivasan} } @conference {BPBP01, title = {Randomized parallel simulation of constrained multibody systems for VR/haptic applications}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation}, volume = {3}, year = {2001}, pages = {2319-2324}, abstract = {

In this paper, we consider the problem of efficiently simulating large interconnected mechanical systems. For applications such as haptic rendering of large, complex virtual environments, dynamic simulation software and hardware is still too slow to afford accurate performance in real-time. In particular, mechanisms with closed kinematic chains necessitate solutions to a set of differential equation with algebraic constraints (DAE\&$\#$39;s), that are often too heavy and stiff to be computed in real-time by present-day single-processor machines. On the other hand, the structure of most state-of-the-art algorithms does not easily lend itself to parallelization. In this paper, we propose and experimentally verify a technique for DAE simulation that profitably uses a degree of randomization to achieve efficient parallelization.

}, keywords = {Dynamics and Simulation for Virtual Reality, Haptics}, author = {A. Bicchi and L. Pallottino and M. Bray and P. Perdomi} } @inbook {BK01, title = {Robotic Grasping and Manipulation}, booktitle = {Ramsete: Articulated and mobile robots for services and Technology}, volume = {270}, year = {2001}, pages = {55-74}, publisher = {Springer-Verlag}, organization = {Springer-Verlag}, chapter = {4}, address = {Berlin Heidelberg, Germany}, keywords = {Grasping, Haptics, Robot Hands}, author = {A. Bicchi and V. Kumar}, editor = {S. Nicosia and B. Siciliano and A. Bicchi and P. Valigi} } @conference {SB-01, title = {Tactile Flow: Does it exist, is it useful and how?}, booktitle = {Proc. Int. Worksh. on Electroactive Polymers and Biosystems}, year = {2001}, month = {July}, pages = {142}, address = {Lucca, Italy}, keywords = {Bioengineering, Haptics, Robotics}, author = {E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi} } @article {BP00-Robotica, title = {Analysis and Optimization of Tendinous Actuation for Biomorphically Designed Robotic Systems}, journal = {Robotica}, volume = {18}, year = {2000}, month = {January}, pages = {23-31}, keywords = {Haptics, Physical Human-Robot Interaction (pHRI), Robot Arms, Robot Hands}, author = {A. Bicchi and D Prattichizzo} } @inbook {BSDR00, title = {Experimental Validation of a Psychophysical Conjecture on a Simplified Model of the Haptic Perceptual Channel}, booktitle = {Robotics Research IX}, year = {2000}, publisher = {Springer-Verlag}, organization = {Springer-Verlag}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Bicchi and E. P. Scilingo and D. De Rossi} } @article {B00, title = {Hands for Dextrous Manipulation and Robust Grasping: a Difficult Road Towards Simplicity}, journal = {IEEE Trans. on Robotics and Automation}, volume = {16}, number = {6}, year = {2000}, month = {December}, pages = {652-662}, keywords = {Haptics, Robot Hands}, author = {A. Bicchi} } @article {BDS00, title = {Haptic discrimination of softness in teleoperation: the role of the contact area spread rate}, journal = {IEEE Trans. on Robotics and Automation}, volume = {16}, number = {5}, year = {2000}, month = {October}, pages = {496-504}, abstract = {

Many applications in teleoperation and virtual reality call for the implementation of effective means of displaying to the human operator information on the softness and other mechanical properties of objects being touched. The ability of humans to detect softness of different objects by tactual exploration is intimately related to both kinesthetic and cutaneous perception, and haptic displays should be designed so as to address such multimodal perceptual channel. Unfortunately, accurate detection and replication of cutaneous information in all its details appears to be a formidable task for current technology, causing most of today{\textquoteright}s haptic displays to merely address the kinesthetic part of haptic information. In this paper we investigate the possibility of surrogating detailed tactile information for softness discrimination, with information on the rate of spread of the contact area between the finger and the specimen as the contact force increases. Devices for implementing such a perceptual channel are described, and a pratical application to a mini-invasive surgery tool is presented. Psychophysical test results are reported, validating the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed approach.

}, keywords = {Haptic Sensing, Haptics, Tactile Flow}, author = {A. Bicchi and D. De Rossi and E. P. Scilingo} } @conference {SBDRS-00, title = {A magnetorheological fluid as a haptic display to replicate perceived compliance of biological tissues}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE-EMBS Conference on Microtechnologies in Medicine and Biology}, year = {2000}, month = {October}, pages = {229-233}, address = {Lyon, France}, keywords = {Haptic Displays, Haptics, Tools for Minimally Invasive Surgery}, author = {E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi and D. De Rossi and A. Scotto} } @conference {BK00, title = {Robotic Grasping and Contact: A Review}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation}, year = {2000}, pages = {348-353}, address = {San Francisco, CA}, keywords = {Grasping, Haptics, Robot Hands}, author = {A. Bicchi and V. Kumar} } @conference {BDRS99, title = {Psychophysical Evaluation of Simplified Haptic Perception Media}, booktitle = {Proc. Int. Workshop on Robot and Human Interaction}, year = {1999}, month = {September}, address = {Pisa}, abstract = {

Detection of softness by tactile exploration in humans is based on both kinesthetic and cutaneous perception, and haptic displays should be designed so as to address such multimodal perceptual channel. Unfortunately, accurate detection and replication of cutaneous information in all its details is difficlt and costly. In this paper we discuss a simplified model of haptic detection of softness (whereby only information on the rate of spread of the contact area between the finger and the specimen as the contact force increases is transmitted). We provide a thorough set of psychophysical tests, to support the feasibility (in at least some contexts) of a reduced-complicacy display of haptic features.

}, keywords = {Bioengineering, Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Bicchi and D. De Rossi and E. P. Scilingo} } @conference {ABDRS99, title = {The Role of Contact Area Spread Rate in Haptic Discrimination of Softness}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation}, year = {1999}, pages = {305-310}, abstract = {

Many applications in teleoperation and virtual reality call for the implementation of effective means of displaying to the human operator information on the softness and other mechanical properties of objects being touched. The ability of humans to detect softness of different objects by tactual exploration is intimately related to both kinesthetic and cutaneous perception, and haptic displays should be designed so as to address such multimodal perceptual channel. Unfortunately, accurate detection and replication of cutaneous information in all its details appears to be a formidable task for current technology, causing most of today{\textquoteright}s haptic displays to merely address the kinesthetic part of haptic information. In this paper we investigate the possibility of surrogating detailed tactile information for softness discrimination, with information on the rate of spread of the contact area between the finger and the specimen. Devices for implementing this new perceptual channel are described, and some preliminary psychophysical test results are reported, validating the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed approach.

}, keywords = {Bioengineering, Haptics, Robotics}, author = {G. Ambrosi and A. Bicchi and D. De Rossi and E. P. Scilingo} } @conference {SBDRI-98, title = {Haptic display able to replicate the rheological behaviour of surgical tissues}, booktitle = {Proc. 20th International Conference IEEE/EMBS}, year = {1998}, pages = {1738-1741}, address = {Hong Kong}, keywords = {Bioengineering, Haptics, Robotics}, author = {E. P. Scilingo and A. Bicchi and D. De Rossi and P. Iacconi} } @conference {BPA98, title = {Optimization of Internal Forces in Force-Closure Grasps}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Mediterranean Conf. On Control And Systems}, year = {1998}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Bicchi and D Prattichizzo and G. Antognetti} } @conference {BPM97, title = {Force and Dynamic Manipulability for Cooperating Robot Systems}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems}, year = {1997}, keywords = {Haptics, Robot Arms, Robot Hands}, author = {A. Bicchi and D Prattichizzo and C. Melchiorri} } @conference {PMBV97-CIS, title = {Geometric Control Techniques for Manipulation Systems}, booktitle = {Proceeding Int. Conf. Computer Integrated Systems}, year = {1997}, address = {Belfort, France}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {D Prattichizzo and P. Mercorelli and A. Bicchi and A. Vicino} } @conference {PMBV97-AIMETA, title = {Geometric Control Techniques for Mechanical Systems}, booktitle = {Int. Conf. Italian Association for Theretical and Applied Mechanics}, year = {1997}, address = {Siena, Italia, september 29 - October 3 1997}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {D Prattichizzo and P. Mercorelli and A. Bicchi and A. Vicino} } @conference {SDRBI97-ASME, title = {Haptic display for replication of rheological behaviour of surgical tissues: modelling, control, and experiments}, booktitle = {Proc. Annual ASME Symp. on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environments and Teleoperator Systems}, year = {1997}, address = {Dallas}, keywords = {Bioengineering, Haptics, Robotics}, author = {E. P. Scilingo and D. De Rossi and A. Bicchi and P. Iaccone} } @inbook {BMP99-CPRA, title = {Robotic Dexterity via Nonholonomy}, booktitle = {Control Problems in Robotics and Automation}, series = {LNCIS 230}, year = {1997}, pages = {35-49}, publisher = {Springer Verlag}, organization = {Springer Verlag}, address = {Berlin Heidelberg, Germany}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Bicchi and A. Marigo and D Prattichizzo}, editor = {B. Siciliano and K. Valavanis} } @conference {SDRBI97-EMB, title = {Sensors and devices to enhance the performance of a minimally invasive surgery tool for replicating surgeons{\textquoteright} haptic percetion of manipulated tissues}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Engineering in Medicine and Biology}, year = {1997}, address = {Chicago}, keywords = {Haptics, Sensors}, author = {E. P. Scilingo and D. De Rossi and A. Bicchi and P. Iaccone} } @inbook {BP97, title = {On some structural properties of general manipulation systems}, booktitle = {Modelling and Control of Mechanichal Systems}, year = {1997}, pages = {187-202}, publisher = {Imperial College Press}, organization = {Imperial College Press}, address = {London, U.K.}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Bicchi and D Prattichizzo}, editor = {A. Astolfi and D. J. N. Limebeer and C. Melchiorri and A. Tornamb\èe and R.B. Vinter} } @inbook {PSB96, title = {Contact and Grasp Robustness Measures: Analysis and Experiments}, booktitle = {Experimental Robotics-IV}, series = {LNCIS 223}, year = {1996}, publisher = {Springer Verlag}, organization = {Springer Verlag}, address = {Berlin Heidelberg, Germany}, abstract = {

In this paper we discuss some aspects related to the practical assessment of the quality of a grasp by a robotic device on objects of unknown shape, based on sensorial feedback from tactile and force sensors on the hand. We briefly discuss the concept of contact robustness and of grasp robustness, pointing out that the former is an easily computable but overconservative sufficient condition for the latter. Some experimental results on a simple gripper, the so\–called {\textquoteleft}{\textquoteleft}Instrumented Talon\&$\#$39;\&$\#$39;, are reported as an illustration.

}, keywords = {Grasping, Haptics, Robot Hands}, author = {D Prattichizzo and J. K. Salisbury and A. Bicchi}, editor = {O. Khatib and K. Salisbury} } @conference {B96, title = {Hands for Dextrous Manipulation and Powerful Grasping: a Difficult Road Towards Simplicity}, booktitle = {Robotics Research - VII}, year = {1996}, pages = {2-15}, publisher = {Springer Verlag}, organization = {Springer Verlag}, address = {Berlin Heidelberg, Germany}, keywords = {Grasping, Haptics, Robot Hands}, author = {A. Bicchi}, editor = {G. Giralt and G. Hirzinger} } @inbook {CMPB96, title = {Reachability of Rolling Parts}, booktitle = {Advances in Robotics: The ERNET Perspective}, year = {1996}, pages = {51-60}, publisher = {World Scientific Publisher Corp.}, organization = {World Scientific Publisher Corp.}, address = {Singapore}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {Y. Chitour and A. Marigo and D Prattichizzo and A. Bicchi}, editor = {C. Bonivento and C. Melchiorri and H. Tolle} } @conference {BCDRIS96, title = { A sensor-based minimally invasive surgery tool for detecting tissue elastic properties }, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation}, year = {1996}, pages = {884-888}, keywords = {Haptics, Tools for Minimally Invasive Surgery}, author = {A. Bicchi and G. Canepa and D. De Rossi and P. Iacconi and E. P. Scilingo} } @article {B95, title = {On the Closure Properties of Robotic Grasping}, journal = {The Int. J. of Robotics Research}, volume = {14}, number = {4}, year = {1995}, month = {August}, pages = {319-334}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Bicchi} } @conference {BP95, title = {A Standard Form for the Dynamics of General Manipulation Systems}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation}, year = {1995}, pages = {2810-2815}, keywords = {Haptics, Robot Arms, Robot Hands}, author = {A. Bicchi and D Prattichizzo} } @conference {PPB94, title = {Articulated Structures with Tendon Actuation for Whole-Limb Manipulation}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation}, year = {1994}, keywords = {Haptics, Robot Arms, Robot Hands}, author = {P. Petreschi and D Prattichizzo and A. Bicchi} } @conference {BPP94, title = {Control of manipulation with dextrous hands}, booktitle = {Proc. IFAC Int. Symposium on Robot Control}, year = {1994}, publisher = {Elsevier Science, Oxford, UK}, organization = {Elsevier Science, Oxford, UK}, address = {Capri}, keywords = {Grasping, Haptics, Robot Hands}, author = {A. Bicchi and P. Petreschi and D Prattichizzo} } @conference {BP94, title = {Controllability of whole-arm manipulation}, booktitle = {Proc. Int. Conf. Decision and Control}, year = {1994}, pages = {373-374}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=410900}, author = {A. Bicchi and D Prattichizzo} } @article {BSB93-IJRR, title = {Contact Sensing from Force and Torque Measurements}, journal = {The Int. J. of Robotics Research}, volume = {12}, number = {3}, year = {1993}, pages = {249-262}, keywords = {Haptics, Robot Hands, Sensors}, author = {A. Bicchi and J. K. Salisbury and D. L. Brock} } @inbook {BSB93, title = {Experimental Evaluation of Friction Data with an Articulated Hand and Intrinsic Contact Sensors}, booktitle = {Experimental Robotics-III}, series = {LNCIS 190}, year = {1993}, publisher = {Springer Verlag}, organization = {Springer Verlag}, address = {Berlin Heidelberg, Germany}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Bicchi and J. K. Salisbury and D. L. Brock}, editor = {R. Chatila and G. Hirzinger} } @conference {B93, title = {Force Distribution in Multiple Whole-Limb Manipulation}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Robotics and Automation}, year = {1993}, pages = {196-201}, address = {Atlanta}, keywords = {Grasping, Haptics, Robot Hands}, author = {A. Bicchi} } @conference {BM93, title = {Manipulability Measures of Cooperating Arms}, booktitle = {Proc. American Control Conference}, year = {1993}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=4792867}, author = {A. Bicchi and C. Melchiorri} } @inbook {BP93, title = {New Issues in the Kineto-Statics, Dynamics, and Control of Whole-Hand Manipulation}, booktitle = {Robotics, Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems}, year = {1993}, pages = {373-3790}, publisher = {North Holland}, organization = {North Holland}, address = {Amsterdam}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Bicchi and D Prattichizzo}, editor = {T. Takamori and K. Tsuchiya} } @inbook {VB93, title = {Whole Hand Manipulation: Design of an Articulated Hand Exploiting All Its Parts To Increase Dexterity}, booktitle = {Robots and Biological Systems}, series = {NATO-ASI Series F: Computer and Systems Sciences, vol. 102}, year = {1993}, publisher = {Springer Verlag}, organization = {Springer Verlag}, address = {Berlin Heidelberg, Germany}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {G. Vassura and A. Bicchi}, editor = {P. Dario and P. Aebischer and G. Sandini} } @conference {B92-IFTOMM, title = {Algorithms for the Analysis of Form- and Force-Closure}, booktitle = {IFToMM Int. Symp. on Theory of Machines and Mechanisms}, year = {1992}, address = {Nagoya, Japan}, keywords = {Grasping, Haptics, Robot Hands}, author = {A. Bicchi} } @inbook {DBBF92, title = {Multiple Sensing for Dexterous End Effectors}, booktitle = {Robots with redundancy: design, sensing and control}, year = {1992}, publisher = {Springer Verlag}, organization = {Springer Verlag}, address = {Berlin Heidelberg, Germany}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {P. Dario and M. Bergamasco and A. Bicchi and A. Fiorillo}, editor = {A. K. Bejczy} } @inbook {BBD92, title = {Robot Tactile Perception}, booktitle = {Sensor Based Robots: Algorithms and Architectures}, year = {1992}, publisher = {Springer Verlag}, organization = {Springer Verlag}, address = {Berlin Heidelberg, Germany}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {G. Buttazzo and A. Bicchi and P. Dario}, editor = {C. S. G. Lee} } @conference {B91, title = {Analysis Control of Power Grasping}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE/RSJ Workshop on Intelligent Robots and Systems}, year = {1991}, address = {Osaka, Japan}, keywords = {Grasping, Haptics, Robot Hands}, author = {A. Bicchi} } @inbook {BB91, title = {Robotic Tactile Sensing: Skin-like and Intrinsic Approach}, booktitle = {Intelligent Robotic Systems: Analysis, Design and Programming}, year = {1991}, publisher = {Marcel Dekker}, organization = {Marcel Dekker}, address = {New York, NY, USA}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Bicchi and G. Buttazzo}, editor = {S. Tzafestas} } @conference {B90, title = {Intrinsic Contact Sensing for Soft Fingers}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation}, year = {1990}, address = {Cincinnati, OH, USA}, keywords = {Force/Torque Sensors, Haptics, Robot Hands, Tactile Sensors}, author = {A. Bicchi} } @inbook {BDBB90, title = {Multi Sensor Integration for Fine Manipulation}, booktitle = {Highly Redundant Sensing in Robotic Systems}, series = {NATO-ASI Series F: Computer and Systems Sciences, vol. 58}, volume = {58}, number = {NATO ASI Series}, year = {1990}, pages = {55-66}, publisher = {Springer Verlag}, organization = {Springer Verlag}, address = {Berlin Heidelberg, Germany}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M. Bergamasco and P. Dario and A. Bicchi and G. Buttazzo}, editor = {J. T. Tou and J. G. Balchen} } @conference {VBT90, title = {Sensorial Integration for a Robotic Dextrous Hand}, booktitle = {Proc. Int. Symp. on Measurement and Control in Robotics}, year = {1990}, address = {Houston, Texas, USA}, keywords = {Haptics, Robot Hands, Sensors}, author = {G. Vassura and A. Bicchi and A. Tonielli} } @conference {BB89, title = {Adaptive Surface Following and Reconstruction Using Intrinsic Tactile Sensing}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int. Works. on Sensorial Integration for Industrial Robots}, year = {1989}, address = {Zaragoza, Spain}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Balestrino and A. Bicchi} } @conference {BSD89, title = {Augmentation of Grasp Robustness Using Intrinsic Tactile Sensing}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Conf. on Robotics and Automation}, year = {1989}, address = {Scottsdale, AZ, USA}, keywords = {Grasping, Haptics, Robot Hands, Sensors}, author = {A. Bicchi and J. K. Salisbury and P. Dario} } @conference {BBDF88, title = {Integrated Tactile Sensing for Gripper Fingers}, booktitle = {Proc. Int. Conf. on Robot Vision and Sensory Control}, year = {1988}, publisher = {I. F. S. Publications Ltd.}, organization = {I. F. S. Publications Ltd.}, address = {Zuerich, Switzerland}, keywords = {Haptics, Robot Hands, Tactile Sensors}, author = {A. Bicchi and M. Bergamasco and P. Dario and A. Fiorillo} } @inbook {BD88, title = {Intrinsic Tactile Sensing for Artificial Hands}, booktitle = {Robotics Research - IV}, year = {1988}, pages = {83-90}, publisher = {MIT Press}, organization = {MIT Press}, address = {Cambridge, MA, USA}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Bicchi and P. Dario}, editor = {R. Bolles and B. Roth} } @conference {DBFF87, title = {Multiple Sensing Fingertip for Robot Active Touch}, booktitle = {Proc. Int. Conf. on Advanced Robotics}, year = {1987}, address = {Versailles, France}, keywords = {Haptics, Robot Hands, Sensors}, author = {P. Dario and A. Bicchi and D. Femi and A. Fiorillo} } @inbook {BDP86, title = {On the Control of a Sensorized Artificial Finger for Tactile Exploration of Objects}, booktitle = {Robot Control}, series = {IFAC Proceedings Series, vol.9}, year = {1986}, pages = {251-256}, publisher = {Pergamon Press Books}, organization = {Pergamon Press Books}, address = {Oxford, U. K.}, keywords = {Haptics, Robot Hands, Sensors}, author = {A. Bicchi and P. Dario and P. C. Pinotti}, editor = {L. Basanez and G. Ferrate and G. N. Saridis} } @inbook {DBFBF86, title = {A Sensorized Scenario for Basic Investigation on Active Touch}, booktitle = {Robot Sensors: Tactile and Non-Vision}, series = {International Trends in Manufacturing Technology Series, vol. 2}, year = {1986}, pages = {237-245}, publisher = {I. F. S. Publications Ltd.}, organization = {I. F. S. Publications Ltd.}, address = {Kempston, Bedford, U. K.}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {P. Dario and A. Bicchi and A. Fiorillo and G. Buttazzo and R. Francesconi}, editor = {Alan Pugh} } @conference {1880, title = {On the Control of a Sensorized Artificial Finger for Tactile Exploration of Objects}, booktitle = {IFAC Symposium on Robot Control (SYROCO85)}, year = {1985}, address = {Barcelona, Spain, 6-8 November 1985}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Bicchi and P. Dario and P. C. Pinotti} } @conference {DBVP85, title = {Tendon Actuated Exploratory Finger With Polymeric, Skin-like Tactile Sensor}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation}, year = {1985}, address = {St. Louis, MO, USA.}, keywords = {Haptics, Robot Hands, Robotics, Sensors}, author = {P. Dario and A. Bicchi and F. Vivaldi and P. C. Pinotti} }