Human motion reconstruction by direct control of marker trajectories

Abstract

Understanding the basis of human movement and reproducing it in robotic environments is a compelling challenge that has engaged a multidisciplinary audience. In addressing this challenge, an important initial step involves reconstructing motion from experimental motion capture data. To this end we propose a new algorithm to reconstruct human motion from motion capture data through direct control of captured marker trajectories. This algorithm is based on a task/posture decomposition and prioritized control approach. This approach ensures smooth tracking of desired marker trajectories as well as the extraction of joint angles in real-time without the need for inverse kinematics. It also provides flexibility over traditional inverse kinematic approaches. Our algorithm was validated on a sequence of tai chi motions. The results demonstrate the efficacy of the direct marker control approach for motion reconstruction from experimental marker data. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.