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A 3D-printed Robot Hand with Three Linkage-driven Underactuated Fingers

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Abstract

In this study, we improved an underactuated finger mechanism by using Solidworks to simulate the grasp operation of a finger in some different situations. In addition, a robot palm is designed for the three-finger robot hand with the designed underactuated fingers. A Solidworks simulation was used to verify the rationality of the design. Some parts of the hand were modified to fit for 3D printing, and a prototype of the hand was produced by 3D printing, which could reduce the cost of the production process, as well as provide design flexibility and other advantages. Finally, some grasping experiments were made with the prototype. The results showed that the robot could grasp objects with different sizes, and further verified the rationality of the design and feasibility of fabricating the robot hand using 3D printing.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51375504 and 61602539) and the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information Engineering, Minzu University of China, Beijing, 100081, China

    Xia-Li Li, Li-Cheng Wu & Tian-Yi Lan

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  1. Xia-Li Li
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  2. Li-Cheng Wu
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  3. Tian-Yi Lan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Li-Cheng Wu.

Additional information

Recommended by Guest Editor Jun-Zhi Yu

Xia-Li Li received the B. Sc. and M. Sc. degrees in computer science and technology from Xi′an Jiaotong University, China in 2001 and 2004, respectively. She is an associate professor with School of Information and Engineering, Minzu University of China, China. She is currently in charge of several research projects, including work with National Natural Science Foundation of China, Beijing Youth Talent Program, etc.

Her research interests include intelligent robot, computer games, minority chess cultures within China.

Li-Cheng Wu received the B. Sc. degree from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA), China in 1995, and the Ph. D. degree in robotics from the Institute of Robotics of BUAA in 2000. He is is currently a full professor and vice dean of School of Information Engineering, Minzu University of China, China. Previously, in 2001 and 2002, he was a postdoc at State Key Laboratory of Intelligent Technology and Systems, Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, China. He was promoted as an associate professor of Tsinghua University in 2008. He moved to School of Information Engineering, Minzu University of China on November 2009. At Minzu University of China, he was promoted as full professor from January 2013. From November 2006 to November 2007, he was a visiting scholar at Polytechnic di Milano and Cassino University, Italy.

His research interests include artificial intelligence and robotics, especially modeling and control, dynamic analysis, mechanical design and AI on manipulator and robot.

Tian-Yi Lan received the B. Eng. degree in Beijing Institute of Technology, University, China in 2015. Currently, he is a master student of the School of Information Engineering, Minzu University of China.

His research interests include artificial intelligence, robot and robotic arm.

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Li, XL., Wu, LC. & Lan, TY. A 3D-printed Robot Hand with Three Linkage-driven Underactuated Fingers. Int. J. Autom. Comput. 15, 593–602 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11633-018-1125-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11633-018-1125-z

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