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

这项主要研究仪器（MRI）拨款支持获得一种运动捕捉系统，用于研究人员附着在人类，机器人或其他移动物体上的小标记的精确空间跟踪。该仪器的高精度和快速捕获率允许动态模型应用于人类运动，并允许精确跟踪小的，快速的运动，如手指。有了这种跟踪能力，研究人员可以从生物力学和神经力学的角度推断人类在现实世界的任务和工作场所与物体的互动。该仪器将由三个系的初级教员使用，并将扩大在人体工程学和人因学、触觉学、机器人和计算机科学等重叠领域的现有研究能力。该仪器还将通过提供经过验证的标准基准测试工具，加强自主机器人车辆定位、瞄准和导航系统以及无标记运动捕捉设备的开发和评估研究。最后，该仪器将用于评估设备设计对攀爬行为和人类对垂直平衡扰动的反应的影响。这项研究将有助于为新兴计算技术和工作场所设备提供设计指南和最佳使用实践，以提高用户的工作效率、舒适度和安全性。该仪器还将增加本科生的研究机会，支持新的实验室课堂练习，并丰富STEM招聘和推广工作。

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.