Design of an economic service robot hand based on biomimetics and TRIZ

Abstract

This work presents a study on the design of an economic service robot hand for tele-presence manipulators. The conceptual design of new robot hand is derived from biomimetics approach. Guided by the analysis of human arm' musculoskeletal structure, the fingers are actuated by cables and actuators in the forearm. High tension in the cables is achieved by screw-nut mechanism driven by DC motors. A set of combination springs is incorporated in each of the screw-nut mechanism for easy control of gripping force. The first prototype revealed difficulties with finger control and coupling problem between gripping force and wrist movement. The solutions to these problems have been derived from the contradiction analysis of TRIZ. The second design has been verified by tests on various objects with different weight and shape for full range of wrist motion. © 2010 The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers.