Relationship between object weights and safety margin in precision grip

2009 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20700475
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Physical education
• Research Institution: Prefectural University of Kumamoto
• Principal Investigator: AOKI Tomoko Prefectural University of Kumamoto (50433412)
• Project Period (FY): 2008 – 2009
• Keywords: 脳・神経 / 神経科学 / 運動制御 / バイオメカニクス / 把握運動

Research Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine safety margins when people griped light weight objects (8-180 g, 10 conditions). In this study, small and light grasping object with a force transducer was developed and made. The grasp, load and slip forces were measured in the 10 conditions for 10 subjects. The absolute values of safety margin increased when the object weights increased. On the other hand, the relative values of the safety margins were almost constant from 40 g to 180 g while the values seem to increase when the object weights changed from 8 g to 30 g. Thus, this study showed that the relative values of safety margins change depending on the object weights when the object was sufficiently light. This result was different from those when the values were measured with heavy object in the previous studies.