A Modular Approach for Lightweight Humanoid Hand Design Using High Torque Density Electric Actuators

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haotian Cui ◽  
Shuangyue Yu ◽  
Xunge Yan ◽  
Shuo-Hsiu Chang ◽  
Gerard Francisco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Human Hand ◽  
Average Weight ◽  
Robot Hand ◽  
Electric Motors ◽  
Robotic Hands ◽  
Torque Density ◽  
High Torque ◽  
Humanoid Hand

The human hand has extraordinary dexterity with more than 20 degrees of freedom (DOF) actuated by lightweight and efficient biological actuators (i.e., muscles). The average weight of human hand is only 400g [1]. Over the last few decades, research and commercialization effort has been dedicated to the development of novel robotic hands for humanoid or prosthetic application towards dexterous and biomimetic design [2]. However, due to the limitations of existing electric motors in terms of torque density and energy efficiency, the design of humanoid hands has to compromise between dexterity and weight. For example, commercial prosthetic terminal devices i-Limb [3] and Bebionic [4] prioritize the lightweight need (450g) and use 5-DOF motors to under-actuated 11 joints, which is only able to realize a few basic grasp postures. On the other hand, some humanoid robot hand devices like DLR-HIT I & II hands [5] prioritize the dexterity need (15 DOF), but weigh more than four times than their biological counterpart (2200g and 1500g, respectively).

Inverse Kinematic Model of Humanoid Robot Hand

2014 ◽  
Vol 611 ◽  
pp. 75-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Virgala ◽  
Alexander Gmiterko ◽  
Michal Kelemen ◽  
Ľubica Miková ◽  
Martin Varga
Keyword(s):  
Inverse Kinematics ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Kinematic Model ◽  
Theoretical Aspect ◽  
Optimization Method ◽  
Inverse Kinematic ◽  
Human Hand ◽  
Robot Hand ◽  
Damped Least Squares

Our study deals with inverse kinematic model of humanoid robot hand. It is important for modeling to know biomechanics of biological human hand, what is discussed in the second section. Based on theoretical aspect of kinematic configuration of the hand, the hand consisting of 24 degrees of freedom is assumed. Subsequently, there are four numerical methods of inverse kinematics used, namely pseudoinverse method, Jacobian transpose method, damped least squares and optimization method. Each of them is simulated in software Matlab and the results are compared and discussed. In the conclusion the best method from the view of solution time and number of iteration cycles is evaluated.

Miniaturized Pneumatic Artificial Muscles Actuating a Bio-Inspired Robot Hand

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Pillsbury ◽  
Ryan M. Robinson ◽  
Norman M. Wereley
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Full Scale ◽  
Constitutive Relationship ◽  
Force Density ◽  
Human Hand ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Specific Work ◽  
Robotic Hand ◽  
Robot Hand ◽  
Pneumatic Artificial Muscles

Pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) are used in robotics applications for their light-weight design and superior static performance. Additional PAM benefits are high specific work, high force density, simple design, and long fatigue life. Previous use of PAMs in robotics research has focused on using “large,” full-scale PAMs as actuators. Large PAMs work well for applications with large working volumes that require high force and torque outputs, such as robotic arms. However, in the case of a compact robotic hand, a large number of degrees of freedom are required. A human hand has 35 muscles, so for similar functionality, a robot hand needs a similar number of actuators that must fit in a small volume. Therefore, using full scale PAMs to actuate a robot hand requires a large volume which for robotics and prosthetics applications is not feasible, and smaller actuators, such as miniature PAMs, must be used. In order to develop a miniature PAM capable of producing the forces and contractions needed in a robotic hand, different braid and bladder material combinations were characterized to determine the load stroke profiles. Through this characterization, miniature PAMs were shown to have comparably high force density with the benefit of reduced actuator volume when compared to full scale PAMs. Testing also showed that braid-bladder interactions have an important effect at this scale, which cannot be modeled sufficiently using existing methods without resorting to a higher-order constitutive relationship. Due to the model inaccuracies and the limited selection of commercially available materials at this scale, custom molded bladders were created. PAMs created with these thin, soft bladders exhibited greatly improved performance.

scholarly journals Virtualization of Robotic Hands Using Mobile Devices †

Robotics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Santiago T. Puente ◽  
Lucía Más ◽  
Fernando Torres ◽  
and Francisco A. Candelas
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Robotic Hand ◽  
Robot Hand ◽  
Real Time Control ◽  
Robotic Hands ◽  
Robot Operating System ◽  
Server Side ◽  
Time Control ◽  
Unity 3D ◽  
Real Robot

This article presents a multiplatform application for the tele-operation of a robot hand using virtualization in Unity 3D. This approach grants usability to users that need to control a robotic hand, allowing supervision in a collaborative way. This paper focuses on a user application designed for the 3D virtualization of a robotic hand and the tele-operation architecture. The designed system allows for the simulation of any robotic hand. It has been tested with the virtualization of the four-fingered Allegro Hand of SimLab with 16 degrees of freedom, and the Shadow hand with 24 degrees of freedom. The system allows for the control of the position of each finger by means of joint and Cartesian co-ordinates. All user control interfaces are designed using Unity 3D, such that a multiplatform philosophy is achieved. The server side allows the user application to connect to a ROS (Robot Operating System) server through a TCP/IP socket, to control a real hand or to share a simulation of it among several users. If a real robot hand is used, real-time control and feedback of all the joints of the hand is communicated to the set of users. Finally, the system has been tested with a set of users with satisfactory results.

3-DOF Outer Rotor Electromagnetic Spherical Actuator

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 591-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuke Nishiura ◽  
◽  
Katsuhiro Hirata ◽  
Yo Sakaidani ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Algorithm ◽  
Dynamic Characteristics ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Single Degree Of Freedom ◽  
Torque Density ◽  
Multiple Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Single Degree ◽  
Outer Rotor ◽  
High Torque ◽  
Spherical Actuator

Conventionally, many single-degree-of-freedom (single-DOF) actuators have been used to realize devices with multiple-degrees-of-freedom (multi-DOF). However, this makes their structures larger, heavier, and more complicated. In order to remove these drawbacks, the development of spherical actuators with multi-DOF is necessary. In this paper, we propose a new 3-DOF outer rotor electromagnetic spherical actuator with high torque density and wide rotation angles. The dynamic characteristics are computed employing 3-D FEM and its effectiveness is verified by carrying out measurements on a prototype. Then, in order to realize further high torque density, the electromagnetic pole arrangement is optimized using Genetic Algorithm (GA) and the effectiveness of the optimized stator poles arrangement is verified.

scholarly journals Constraint Study for a Hand Exoskeleton: Human Hand Kinematics and Dynamics

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fai Chen Chen ◽  
Silvia Appendino ◽  
Alessandro Battezzato ◽  
Alain Favetto ◽  
Mehdi Mousavi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inverse Kinematics ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Human Hand ◽  
Anthropometric Data ◽  
Robotic Hands ◽  
Hand Shape ◽  
Hand Exoskeleton ◽  
Reduced Space

In the last few years, the number of projects studying the human hand from the robotic point of view has increased rapidly, due to the growing interest in academic and industrial applications. Nevertheless, the complexity of the human hand given its large number of degrees of freedom (DoF) within a significantly reduced space requires an exhaustive analysis, before proposing any applications. The aim of this paper is to provide a complete summary of the kinematic and dynamic characteristics of the human hand as a preliminary step towards the development of hand devices such as prosthetic/robotic hands and exoskeletons imitating the human hand shape and functionality. A collection of data and constraints relevant to hand movements is presented, and the direct and inverse kinematics are solved for all the fingers as well as the dynamics; anthropometric data and dynamics equations allow performing simulations to understand the behavior of the finger.

In-hand forward and inverse kinematics with rolling contact

Robotica ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 2381-2399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Cui ◽  
Jie Sun ◽  
Jian S. Dai
Keyword(s):  
Inverse Kinematics ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Rolling Contact ◽  
Moving Frame ◽  
Robot Hand ◽  
Robotic Hands ◽  
Geometric Framework ◽  
Univariate Polynomial ◽  
Forward And Inverse Kinematics ◽  
Exponential Formula

SUMMARYRobotic hands use rolling contact to manipulate a grasped object to a desired location, even when the finger and the palm linkage mechanisms lack degrees of freedom. This paper presents a systematic approach to the forward and inverse kinematics of in-hand manipulation. The moving frame method in differential geometry is integrated into the product of exponential formula to establish a pure geometric framework of the kinematics of a robot hand. The forward and inverse kinematics of a multifingered hand are obtained in terms of the joint rates and contact trajectories. A two-fingered planar robot hand and a three-fingered spatial robot hand are used to demonstrate the proposed approach. The proposed formulation amounts to solving a univariate polynomial, providing an alternative to the existing ones that require numerical integration.

Kinematic Analysis of an Anthropomorphic Robot Hand

2012 ◽  
Vol 187 ◽  
pp. 293-297
Author(s):  
Pramod Kuma Parida ◽  
Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal ◽  
Dhirendra Nath Thatoi
Keyword(s):  
Kinematic Analysis ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Human Hand ◽  
Robot Hand ◽  
Orthopedic Rehabilitation ◽  
Robot Hands

There has been a continuous effort by researchers to develop multi-fingered robot hands for variety of applications. Some of these hands are meant for industrial applications while thers are used for orthopedic rehabilitation of humans. However the degree of success to develop an anthropomorphic robot hand in close resemblence with a typical human hand has not been satisfactory. In the present work an attempt has been made to design a robot hand having five fingers with 25 degrees of freedom by closly following the anatomy of human hand.The kinematic analysis of the hand offers confirmative results for effective graspingand manipulating objects.

scholarly journals Pinching at Fingertips for Humanoid Robot Hand

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 655-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiyoshi Hoshino ◽  
◽  
Ichiro Kawabuchi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Force Control ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Degree Of Freedom ◽  
Robot Hand ◽  
Motor Functions ◽  
Weak Force ◽  
Robot Hands ◽  
Finger Motion

Delicate actions such as picking up paper or a needle with the fingertips – an important function for robot hands – are extremely difficult. We propose a lightweight robot hand based on extracting minimum required motor functions and implementing them in a robot. We also propose a robot hand that realizes appropriate pinching by adding the minimum required degree of supplementary freedom realizable only mechanically. In the robot hand, we focus mainly on adding degrees of freedom for independent finger motion to the terminal joints and a degree of freedom for twisting by the thumb. The results showed that providing the fingertip with a joint with broad force control even with weak force effectively ensures delicate fingertip control in a humanoid robot hand.

Kinematic Mapping and Calibration of the Thumb Motions for Teleoperating a Humanoid Robot Hand

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Cui ◽  
Ugo Cupcic ◽  
Jian S. Dai
Keyword(s):  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Index Finger ◽  
Input Device ◽  
Human Hand ◽  
Robot Hand ◽  
Optimization Formulation ◽  
Kinematic Mapping ◽  
Dexterous Hand ◽  
Tip Position ◽  
Hand Pose

Mapping and calibration from a human hand to a robot hand pose a challenge due to their differences in kinematic structures. This paper uses the CyberGlove® as the input device for telemanipulating an object with the thumb and the index finger of the Shadow® Dexterous Hand™, with the focus not only on the position but also on the orientation of the thumb fingertip because it is found through experiments conducted on the Shadow Hand that the calibration of tip position alone can lead to unacceptable grasping postures. This paper develops an experiment protocol and proposes a nonlinear optimization formulation that makes the normals of the surfaces of the thumb and index fingertips within the friction cone while subject to fingertip position constraint. The results are verified to be accurate enough to conduct the telemanipulation.

Workspace Analysis and Mechanical Innovation of YWZ Dexterous Hand

2011 ◽  
Vol 338 ◽  
pp. 557-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Zhen Yang ◽  
Hua Zhang ◽  
Shi Guang Yu ◽  
Wen Hua Chen
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Bone Structure ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Human Hand ◽  
Robot Hand ◽  
Coordinate Systems ◽  
Mechanical Structure ◽  
Workspace Analysis ◽  
Physical Prototype ◽  
Dexterous Hand

Degrees of freedom (DOFs) and workspace are important factors to evaluate the flexibility of the dexterous hand. This paper develops an original dexterous hand, which has 20 active DOFs and adjustable thumb. Imitating the human hand bone structure, we design a full driven multi-fingered anthropomorphic robot hand (YWZ dexterous hand). For the thumb of YWZ dexterous hand, we innovatively design a metacarpal phalange mechanical structure to adjust thumb’s assembly position and radial orientation relative the palm. We construct coordinate systems to deduce the finger kinematic equations and analyze the finger workspace. A physical prototype of YWZ dexterous hand was manufactured to test its kinematic characteristics and workspace. Experimental results validate the YWZ dexterous hand has large workspace, excellent operating flexibility.

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