Ability Mining of Lower Limb on 6-DOF Operation Using Isometric Rate Control*

As part of the research on ability mining, we investigated the ability to perform six-degree-of-freedom operations with the foot. Since the lower limb exerts force to support the body, the isometric rate method may be suitable for lower limb operation but there have been few studies. In this study, we investigated the operation ability of the foot using the isometric rate (IMR) method. We evaluated the characteristics of the foot operation using a game in which the subject operates an object in a virtual space with the foot and overlays it on a target. As a result, it was confirmed that it is possible to perform a six-degree-of-freedom operation using the foot in the IMR method. We also quantitatively demonstrated the difference in ability between the foot operation and the hand operation. When both position and posture were operated, the time required for foot operation was approximately 79% longer than that for hand operation. The foot operation tends to involve more unnecessary movement than the hand operation, and this tendency is more pronounced for the operations intended to move both of position and posture at the same time. The results of the first mode analysis of the singular value decomposition suggested that the foot operation tends to perform position and posture operations separately.