MRI: Acquisition of a Motion Capture System to Facilitate Multidisciplinary Research Efforts and Enhance Undergraduate Research Training

Kettering University, Flint MI

Investigators

Abstract

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant supports the acquisition of a motion capture system for the accurate spatial tracking of small markers that researchers attach to humans, robots, or other moving objects. The instrumentation's high-accuracy and fast capture rate allows dynamic models to be applied to human movements and allows precise tracking of small, fast motions, such as with the fingers. With this tracking capability, researchers can make biomechanical and neuromechanical inferences about human interactions with objects during real-world tasks and workplace jobs. The instrument will be used by junior faculty in three departments and will expand existing research capacity in the overlapping areas of ergonomics and human factors, haptics, robotics, and computer science. The instrumentation will also enhance research leading to the development and evaluation of autonomous robotic vehicle localization, targeting, and navigation systems and marker-less motion capture devices by providing a validated, standard benchmarking tool. Finally, the instrumentation will be used to evaluate effects of equipment design on climbing behavior and human responses to vertical balance perturbations. This research will help to inform design guidelines and best use practices for emerging computing technologies and workplace equipment to increase user productivity, comfort, and safety. The instrumentation will also increase research opportunities for undergraduate students, support new laboratory classroom exercises and enrich STEM recruiting and outreach efforts.