Abstract
Determination of human hand poses from hand master measurements of joint angles requires an accurate human hand model for each operator. A new method for human hand calibration is proposed, based on open-loop kinematic calibration. The parameters of a kinematic model of the human index finger are determined as an example. Singular value decomposition is used as a tool for analyzing the kinematic model and the identification process. It was found that accurate and reliable results are obtained only when the numerical condition is minimized through parameter scaling, model reduction and pose set selection. The identified kinematic parameters of the index finger with the Utah Dextrous Hand Master show that the kinematic model and the calibration procedure have an accuracy of about 2 mm.