A Novel Underactuated Robotic Finger with Variable Stiffness Joints

Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2019 Jul:2019:5305-5309. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2019.8857405.

Abstract

Existing robotic hands mostly consist of rigid finger mechanism with constant joint stiffness, leading to poor handling performance and even unexpected safety issues. This paper proposed a novel underactuated robotic finger with variable stiffness joints based on human finger anatomy and electrostatic adhesion(ESA) principle. The proposed finger is unique in the 3D printable one-piece body structure consisting of three similar joints, actuated by only one linear actuator to mimic the flexion/extension movement of the human finger. It is characterized by simple actuation, light weight, low cost and compliant grasp. We constructed a portable finger prototype to investigate the variable stiffness performance. It turns out that the joint stiffness shows a growing trend as the applied voltage increases, which verifies the effectiveness of this design. The proposed novel finger indicates potential applications in service robots and prosthetic hands.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Fingers*
  • Hand
  • Humans
  • Prostheses and Implants
  • Robotics*
  • Static Electricity