Analytical Inverse Optimization in Two-Hand Prehensile Tasks

The authors explored application of analytical inverse optimization (ANIO) method to the normal finger forces in unimanual and bimanual prehensile tasks with discrete and continuously changing constraints. The subjects held an instrumented handle vertically with one or two hands. The external torque and grip force changed across trials or within a trial continuously. Principal component analysis showed similar percentages of variance accounted for by the first two principal components across tasks and conditions. Compared to unimanual tasks, bimanual tasks showed significantly more frequent inability to find a cost function leading to a stable solution. In cases of stable solutions, similar second-order polynomials were computed as cost functions across tasks and condition. The bimanual tasks, however, showed significantly worse goodness-of-fit index values. The authors show that ANIO can be used in tasks with slowly changing constraints making it an attractive tool to study optimality of performance in special populations. They also show that ANIO can fail in multifinger tasks, likely due to irreproducible behavior across trials, more likely to happen in bimanual tasks compared to unimanual tasks.