Joint-Angle Coordination Patterns Ensure Stabilization of a Body-Plus-Tool System in Point-to-Point Movements with a Rod

Tim A. Valk, Leonora J. Mouton, Raoul M. Bongers

When performing a goal-directed action with a tool, it is generally assumed that the point of control of the action system is displaced from the hand to the tool, implying that body and tool function as one system. Studies of how actions with tools are performed have been limited to studying either end-effector kinematics or joint-angle coordination patterns. Because joint-angle coordination patterns affect end-effector kinematics, the current study examined them together, with the aim of revealing how body and tool function as one system. Seated participants made point-to-point movements with their index finger, and with rods of 10, 20, and 30 cm attached to their index finger. Start point and target were presented on a table in front of them, and in half of the conditions a participant displacement compensated for rod length. Results revealed that the kinematics of the rod's tip showed higher peak velocity, longer deceleration time, and more curvature with longer rods. End-effector movements were more curved in the horizontal plane when participants were not displaced. Joint-angle trajectories were similar across rod lengths when participants were displaced, whereas more extreme joint-angles were used with longer rods when participants were not displaced. Furthermore, in every condition the end-effector was stabilized to a similar extent; both variability in joint-angle coordination patterns that affected end-effector position and variability that did not affect end-effector position increased in a similar way vis-à-vis rod length. Moreover, the increase was higher in those conditions, in which participants were not displaced. This suggests that during tool use, body and tool are united in a single system so as to stabilize the end-effector kinematics in a similar way that is independent of tool length. In addition, the properties of the actual trajectory of the end-effector, as well as the actual joint-angles used, depend on the length of the tool and the specifics of the task.