State Classification for Human Hands

The human hand, which is a perfect model for dextrous hands, is a masterpiece of mechanical complexity. A full understanding of the human hand will provide more inspiration for the successful implementation and application of dextrous hands. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, the characteristic tree of the human hand is established for kinematic characteristics analysis. Second, a systematic classification for the human hand states is issued from the view point of topology. Moreover, the kinematic characteristics of the palm or finger tips are achieved via the Generalized Function (GF) set theory with the aim of achieving deeper insight into the capabilities of the human hand. Finally one application example is given to show the effectiveness of the exploitation of the GF set theory and the usefulness of this methodology for dextrous hands.