A 1-DOF Modular Robotic Hand Inspired by Human Two-Arm Cooperative Handling Strategy

Abstract

In the present article, a 1-DOF modular robotic hand inspired by a human two-arm cooperative handling strategy was presented to achieve flexible applications in robotic object grasping. The presented modular robotic hand was characterized as 1-DOF, modular, symmetrically designed and partly soft. The soft finger could produce independent elastic deformation and adapt to the object surface passively without the additional requirement of control. The modular hand is based on bus control technology, and up to 254 modular hands can be controlled simultaneously. The above characteristic of the modular hand could greatly improve the application flexibility of the robotic end-effector. The modularity of the robotic hand makes the multi-hand cooperative operation possible, which is a potential technology to eliminate the position error of the object. Based on the modular hand, a double-hand and quadruple-hand end-effector was developed, and some experimental tests were performed to verify its versatility and operating performance. The operating stability was also verified by kinematic modeling and numerical simulation.