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Chapter 19 — Robot Hands

Claudio Melchiorri and Makoto Kaneko

Multifingered robot hands have a potential capability for achieving dexterous manipulation of objects by using rolling and sliding motions. This chapter addresses design, actuation, sensing and control of multifingered robot hands. From the design viewpoint, they have a strong constraint in actuator implementation due to the space limitation in each joint. After briefly introducing the overview of anthropomorphic end-effector and its dexterity in Sect. 19.1, various approaches for actuation are provided with their advantages and disadvantages in Sect. 19.2. The key classification is (1) remote actuation or build-in actuation and (2) the relationship between the number of joints and the number of actuator. In Sect. 19.3, actuators and sensors used for multifingered hands are described. In Sect. 19.4, modeling and control are introduced by considering both dynamic effects and friction. Applications and trends are given in Sect. 19.5. Finally, this chapter is closed with conclusions and further reading.

The PISA-IIT SoftHand (1)

Author  IIT - Pisa University

Video ID : 749

The PISA-IIT SoftHand is a anthropomorphic device with a single actuator. The video shows the hand being controlled with EMG signals.

The PISA-IIT SoftHand (2)

Author  IIT - Pisa University

Video ID : 750

Demonsrations of the use of the Pisa-IIT SoftHand with human interface.

The Salisbury Hand

Author  Ken Salisbury

Video ID : 751

The well-known Ken Salisbury Hand has been designed in order to optimize its workspace and its manipulation capabilities. It has been emulated in many other devices.

The Barrett Hand

Author  Barrett Technology Inc.

Video ID : 752

The Barrett Hand is one of the first effective commercial robot grippers. Although it is not an anthropomorphic hand, its kinematics and actuation system enable a great diversity of grasps.

The Shadow Hand

Author  Shadow Robot Company

Video ID : 753

The Shadow Hand is a popular and well-known commercial, anthropomorphic robot hand.

The "DLR Hand"

Author  DLR - Robotics and Mechatronics Center

Video ID : 754

Many articulated hands have been developed at DLR, often representing the state of the art in the field. The video shows the 2011 version in this series.

A high-speed hand

Author  Ishikawa Komuro Lab

Video ID : 755

Ishikawa Komuro Lab's high-speed robot hand performing impressive acts of dexterity and skillful manipulation.

UBH2, University of Bologna Hand, ver. 2 (1992)

Author  Claudio Melchiorri

Video ID : 756

This hand, developed at the University of Bologna at the beginning of the 1990s, was the first to implement the "whole-hand-manipulation" capability. It was equipped with intrinsic tactile force/torque sensors in each phalange and in the palm.

The Dexmart Hand

Author  Claudio Melchiorri

Video ID : 767

Grasp and manipulation tasks executed by the Dexmart Hand, an anthropomorphic robot hand developed within an European research activity. Detailed aspects of the "twisted-spring" actuation principle are demonstrated.

DLR hand

Author  DLR -Robotics and Mechatronics Center

Video ID : 768

A DLR hand