Three experiments were conducted to investigate the control of the manipulation (i.e., finger-thumb aperture) and transportation (i.e., wrist velocity) components in prehensile movement (Jeannerod, 1981, 1984). In all experiments, subjects were seated and instructed to grasp a dowel mounted on a joystick following a discrete movement over a set distance. Thus, the amount of dowel movement follo...

During the regeneration of the tail in the arboreal New Zealand gecko (Hoplodactylus maculatus) a new set of tail scales, modified into pads bearing setae 5-20 μm long, is also regenerated. Stages of the formation of these specialized scales from epidermal pegs that invaginate the dermis of the regenerating tail are described on the basis of light and electron microscopic images. Within the peg...

The performance of patients with vascular parkinsonism (VPD) on a reach-to-grasp task was compared with that of patients affected by idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) and age-matched control subjects. The aim of the study was to determine how patients with VPD and IPD compare at the level of the kinematic organization of prehensile actions. We examined how subjects concurrently executed the ...

Many useful tasks require both mobility and manipulation — one or more mobile robots must move to a given location and perform some task with an object there. Our research has focused on mobile robots with nonprehensile (i.e., nongrasping) manipulators. Such manipulators are mechanically simpler than their prehensile counterparts and have the additional advantage of being able to manipulate a w...

Micro aerial vehicles, particularly quadrotors, have been used in a wide range of applications. However, the literature on aerial manipulation and grasping is limited and the work is based on quasi-static models. In this paper, we draw inspiration from agile, fast-moving birds such as raptors, that are able to capture moving prey on the ground or in water, and develop similar capabilities for q...

The orbicularis oris muscle plays a role in the production of primate facial expressions and vocalizations, nutrient intake, and in some non-human primates it is used as a prehensile, manipulative tool. As the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is the closest living relative of humans, a comparison of the orbicularis oris muscle between these species may increase our understanding of the morphologica...

The binturong (Arctictis binturong) is a large, arboreal viverrid (subfamily Paradoxurinae) with a coat of long coarse hair and a prehensile tail that inhabits the dense forests of Southeast Asia, Palawan, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. This species, as with most Carnivora, possesses paired glands that open on both sides of the anus (Story, 1945). These anal glands are used by both sexes to scent-m...