Can Training Make Three Arms Better Than Two Heads for Trimanual Coordination?

Supernumerary effectors have been proposed to enable users to perform tasks alone that normally require assistance from a partner. While various supernumerary robotic limbs have been developed in the last decade, the capability of users to operate them effectively has not yet been proven. Here we te...

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Main Authors: Yanpei Huang, Jonathan Eden, Ekaterina Ivanova, Etienne Burdet
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2023-01-01
Series:IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10221685/
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author Yanpei Huang
Jonathan Eden
Ekaterina Ivanova
Etienne Burdet
author_facet Yanpei Huang
Jonathan Eden
Ekaterina Ivanova
Etienne Burdet
author_sort Yanpei Huang
collection DOAJ
description Supernumerary effectors have been proposed to enable users to perform tasks alone that normally require assistance from a partner. While various supernumerary robotic limbs have been developed in the last decade, the capability of users to operate them effectively has not yet been proven. Here we tested whether users (i) can complete a task that requires simultaneous and fine control of three effectors, and (ii) can be trained to do so with similar or superior performance as through collaboration with a human partner. As in previous studies, initial augmented capability was less than that of working with a partner. However, one hour of dedicated solo trimanual training across three days significantly increased task performance, so that participants became able to perform trimanual control alone as well as or better than they could with a new partner. This shows the viability of augmentation systems for applications such as in robotic surgery or industrial assembly, which can be further validated on real tasks with physical systems.
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spelling doaj-art-73ea4a611cb7452ca707e64fe2e3de5f2025-08-20T02:38:10ZengIEEEIEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology2644-12762023-01-01414815510.1109/OJEMB.2023.330580810221685Can Training Make Three Arms Better Than Two Heads for Trimanual Coordination?Yanpei Huang0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1988-0266Jonathan Eden1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0733-265XEkaterina Ivanova2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3024-093XEtienne Burdet3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2123-0185Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College of Science Technology, Medicine, London, U.K.Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College of Science Technology, Medicine, London, U.K.Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College of Science Technology, Medicine, London, U.K.Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College of Science Technology, Medicine, London, U.K.Supernumerary effectors have been proposed to enable users to perform tasks alone that normally require assistance from a partner. While various supernumerary robotic limbs have been developed in the last decade, the capability of users to operate them effectively has not yet been proven. Here we tested whether users (i) can complete a task that requires simultaneous and fine control of three effectors, and (ii) can be trained to do so with similar or superior performance as through collaboration with a human partner. As in previous studies, initial augmented capability was less than that of working with a partner. However, one hour of dedicated solo trimanual training across three days significantly increased task performance, so that participants became able to perform trimanual control alone as well as or better than they could with a new partner. This shows the viability of augmentation systems for applications such as in robotic surgery or industrial assembly, which can be further validated on real tasks with physical systems.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10221685/Foot controlteleoperationthree-hand surgeryTri-manipulation
spellingShingle Yanpei Huang
Jonathan Eden
Ekaterina Ivanova
Etienne Burdet
Can Training Make Three Arms Better Than Two Heads for Trimanual Coordination?
IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology
Foot control
teleoperation
three-hand surgery
Tri-manipulation
title Can Training Make Three Arms Better Than Two Heads for Trimanual Coordination?
title_full Can Training Make Three Arms Better Than Two Heads for Trimanual Coordination?
title_fullStr Can Training Make Three Arms Better Than Two Heads for Trimanual Coordination?
title_full_unstemmed Can Training Make Three Arms Better Than Two Heads for Trimanual Coordination?
title_short Can Training Make Three Arms Better Than Two Heads for Trimanual Coordination?
title_sort can training make three arms better than two heads for trimanual coordination
topic Foot control
teleoperation
three-hand surgery
Tri-manipulation
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10221685/
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AT jonathaneden cantrainingmakethreearmsbetterthantwoheadsfortrimanualcoordination
AT ekaterinaivanova cantrainingmakethreearmsbetterthantwoheadsfortrimanualcoordination
AT etienneburdet cantrainingmakethreearmsbetterthantwoheadsfortrimanualcoordination