Korean researchers have created a very realistic and capable robot hand that looks very promising. It is strong (34N of grip strength) and reasonably lightweight (1.1 kg), too. There are several videos of the hand in action, of which you can see two of them below including one where the hand uses scissors to cut some paper. You can also read the full paper for details.
Like many good projects, this one started with requirements. The team surveyed existing hands noting the positives and negatives of each design. They then listed the attributes they wanted in a new design.
The 22 cm hand has 4 fingers, a thumb, and sensors on each fingertip. Overall, there are 20 joints resulting in 15 degrees of freedom so the hand is very dexterous. The construction looks taxing with eccentric motors, ball screws, and linkages. However, the hand is self-contained and ready to mount on any robot arm.
We were especially interested in one video where the hand used tweezers to place small parts. Could this be the figure of pick and place?
If you want to dabble in linkage design, we have just the CAD package for you. If you need more robot mechanisms to play with, there are plenty out there to study, duplicate, and modify.
I can’t see this being used on conventional robot arms, to fiddly and complicated (hence expensive to build), but in prosthetics…
Luke, I am your hand!
NNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! THAT’S NOT TRUE!!!!!
THAT”S IMPOSSIBLE!!!!
OH MAN! I BLEW IT! I can’t believe I screwed that up. I guess it’s time to go back and watch them all again.
Do you think I can get one setup by this weekend? I’m going to be cutting a lot of paper, and I think this could really come in “handy”. (Pun not planned, but intended.)
Impressive bit of machining, but it doesn’t look like it can give the “thumbs up” sign as it sinks into a crucible of molten steel, so…
“SHAKE WITH YOUR NEW ROBOT HAND”
My hands shake enough as it is, (when I’m soldering).
I don’t need a robotic hand to do the shaking!
B^)
Is 34 N enough N to be counted as strong? Used to do a bit of climbing and the digits had to hold over 800 N of lard away from Earth’s tempting gravity well. (frequently they gave way to the gravity well)
Now I just do archery, so digits only have to deal with ~300 N.
Point is, I’m not strong. So 34 N..?
Awesome robot hand though :)
Can I use it to massage my own feet?
Robotic feet don’t need massaging.