Researchers have designed a low-cost, energy-efficient robotic hand that can grasp a range of objects – and not drop them – using just the movement of its wrist and the feeling in its ‘skin’. Credit: University of Cambridge
The robot hand was trained to grasp different objects and was able to predict whether it would drop them by using the information provided by sensors placed on its ‘skin’. In Professor Fumiya Iida’s Bio-Inspired Robotics Laboratory in Cambridge’s Department of Engineering, researchers have been developing potential solutions to both problems: a robot hand than can grasp a variety of objects with the correct amount of pressure while using a minimal amount of energy.
The researchers used a 3D-printed anthropomorphic hand implanted with tactile sensors so that the hand could sense what it was touching. The hand was only capable of passive, wrist-based movement. The robot used trial and error to learn what kind of grip would be successful. After finishing the training with the balls, it then attempted to grasp different objects including a peach, a computer mouse, and a roll of bubble wrap. In these tests, the hand was able to successfully grasp 11 of 14 objects.
“The big advantage of this design is the range of motion we can get without using any actuators,” said Iida. “We want to simplify the hand as much as possible. We can get lots of good information and a high degree of control without any actuators, so that when we do add them, we’ll get more complex behavior in a more efficient package.”