A Novel Underactuated Robotic Finger with Variable Stiffness Joints.
Journal:
Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual International Conference
PMID:
31947054
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.