Human-Exoskeleton Kinematic Calibration to Improve Hand Tracking for Dexterous Teleoperation

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhang, Haiyun, Gasperina, Stefano Dalla, Yousaf, Saad N., Tsuboi, Toshimitsu, Narita, Tetsuya, Deshpande, Ashish D.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Zhang, Haiyun
Gasperina, Stefano Dalla
Yousaf, Saad N.
Tsuboi, Toshimitsu
Narita, Tetsuya
Deshpande, Ashish D.
author_facet Zhang, Haiyun
Gasperina, Stefano Dalla
Yousaf, Saad N.
Tsuboi, Toshimitsu
Narita, Tetsuya
Deshpande, Ashish D.
contents Hand exoskeletons are critical tools for dexterous teleoperation and immersive manipulation interfaces, but achieving accurate hand tracking remains a challenge due to user-specific anatomical variability and donning inconsistencies. These issues lead to kinematic misalignments that degrade tracking performance and limit applicability in precision tasks. We propose a subject-specific calibration framework for exoskeleton-based hand tracking that estimates virtual link parameters through residual-weighted optimization. A data-driven approach is introduced to empirically tune cost function weights using motion capture ground truth, enabling accurate and consistent calibration across users. Implemented on the Maestro hand exoskeleton with seven healthy participants, the method achieved substantial reductions in joint and fingertip tracking errors across diverse hand geometries. Qualitative visualizations using a Unity-based virtual hand further demonstrate improved motion fidelity. The proposed framework generalizes to exoskeletons with closed-loop kinematics and minimal sensing, laying the foundation for high-fidelity teleoperation and robot learning applications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_23592
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Human-Exoskeleton Kinematic Calibration to Improve Hand Tracking for Dexterous Teleoperation
Zhang, Haiyun
Gasperina, Stefano Dalla
Yousaf, Saad N.
Tsuboi, Toshimitsu
Narita, Tetsuya
Deshpande, Ashish D.
Robotics
Human-Computer Interaction
Systems and Control
Hand exoskeletons are critical tools for dexterous teleoperation and immersive manipulation interfaces, but achieving accurate hand tracking remains a challenge due to user-specific anatomical variability and donning inconsistencies. These issues lead to kinematic misalignments that degrade tracking performance and limit applicability in precision tasks. We propose a subject-specific calibration framework for exoskeleton-based hand tracking that estimates virtual link parameters through residual-weighted optimization. A data-driven approach is introduced to empirically tune cost function weights using motion capture ground truth, enabling accurate and consistent calibration across users. Implemented on the Maestro hand exoskeleton with seven healthy participants, the method achieved substantial reductions in joint and fingertip tracking errors across diverse hand geometries. Qualitative visualizations using a Unity-based virtual hand further demonstrate improved motion fidelity. The proposed framework generalizes to exoskeletons with closed-loop kinematics and minimal sensing, laying the foundation for high-fidelity teleoperation and robot learning applications.
title Human-Exoskeleton Kinematic Calibration to Improve Hand Tracking for Dexterous Teleoperation
topic Robotics
Human-Computer Interaction
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.23592