Robot Hand With Segmented Flexible Finger For Stable Gripping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robot hands with parallel grippers face limitations in gripping stability due to line or point contact, restricting the shapes of objects that can be grasped, and increasing size and weight to achieve more degrees of freedom complicates the configuration and reduces applicability.
Innovation Solution
A robot hand design featuring a palm section with a first finger lacking bending and stretching degrees of freedom and a second finger with bendable and stretchable joints, allowing for adjustable finger pad surface positions and angles to accommodate various object shapes, while minimizing overall size and component count.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the robot hand increases degrees of freedom to enable stable gripping of various shaped objects, then gripping adaptability is improved, but the size and weight of the robot hand increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robot hand is segmented into a fixed first finger and a flexible second finger with multiple phalanx sections (base, middle, distal). The second finger is further divided into segments that can be independently controlled by middle and distal joints, allowing selective activation of degrees of freedom only when needed for specific object shapes, thus maintaining adaptability while minimizing unnecessary weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot hand employs dynamic configuration where the second finger can transition between rigid and flexible states. The middle and distal joints provide variable degrees of freedom that are activated dynamically based on the gripping task, allowing the hand to adapt its structure to match the object being gripped rather than maintaining fixed high degrees of freedom for all scenarios.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the robot hand increases degrees of freedom to enable stable gripping of various shaped objects, then gripping adaptability is improved, but the configuration becomes complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The second finger is segmented into base, middle, and distal phalanx sections with only two joints (middle and distal) controlling the flexible portions. This segmentation allows complex gripping adaptability to be achieved through simple, modular joint mechanisms rather than a complicated continuous structure.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the robot hand have different functional qualities: the first finger is completely fixed for stable reference, the base phalanx section provides structural support, while only the middle and distal phalanx sections have flexibility. This local differentiation of rigidity and flexibility achieves gripping adaptability without requiring the entire hand to be complex.
3Device complexity
If the robot hand uses parallel gripper with line or point contact, then the structure is simple, but the shape of target object that can be stably gripped is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The second finger is divided into multiple phalanx sections (base, middle, distal) that can be independently positioned, transforming a simple parallel gripper structure into a multi-contact-capable structure. This segmentation enables the finger to conform to various object shapes through coordinated movement of segments while maintaining relatively simple individual joint mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds a new dimension of flexibility to the parallel gripper by introducing the middle and distal joints that enable bending and stretching movements. This transforms the traditionally one-dimensional parallel motion into multi-dimensional contact capability, allowing stable gripping of diverse object shapes without significantly complicating the base parallel gripper structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A robot hand includes: a palm section; a first finger extending from the palm section to distal side, and having a finger pad surface opposed to a central axis of the palm section; and a second finger extending from the palm section to the distal side, and having a finger pad surface opposed to the finger pad surface of the first finger with the central axis of the palm section interposed therebetween. The palm section includes a proximal joint that couples the second finger to the palm section pivotably about a first axis. The first finger does not have degrees of freedom in bending and stretching directions. The second finger includes a base phalanx section provided close to the palm section, a distal phalanx section provided closer to the distal side than the base phalanx section, and a middle phalanx section provided between the base phalanx section and the distal phalanx section. Furthermore, the second finger includes a middle joint and a distal joint, the middle joint that couples the middle phalanx section to the base phalanx section bendably and strechably about a second axis, and the distal joint that couples the distal phalanx section to the middle phalanx section bendably and strechably about a third axis.