A detachable crawling robotic hand

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Biomimicry

Background:

• Human hands are benchmarks for robotic dexterity, inspiring anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic designs.
• Existing robotic hands face limitations in symmetry, modularity, and combining autonomous movement with multi-object grasping.
• Current designs struggle to integrate manipulation and locomotion effectively.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel reversible finger design for robotic hands.
• To develop a robotic hand that combines grasping from both sides with optimized finger placement.
• To enable a platform that integrates manipulation and locomotion for enhanced robotic applications.

Main Methods:

• Designed a reversible finger mechanism allowing bidirectional grasping.
• Optimized finger placement to balance grasping and crawling requirements.
• Integrated a detachable, reversible hand into a robotic platform.

Main Results:

• The developed robotic hand successfully combined manipulation and locomotion capabilities.
• Demonstrated beyond-reach multi-item retrieval during simulated crawling.
• Showcased one-handed tool use and seamless transition between stationary manipulation and autonomous mobility.

Conclusions:

• The detachable, reversible robotic hand offers a versatile solution for complex robotic tasks.
• This design bridges stationary manipulation with autonomous mobility, expanding potential applications in various robotics fields.
• The innovative design addresses limitations of current robotic hands, paving the way for more capable and adaptable robots.