Experiments in Underactuated In-Hand Manipulation

Abstract

This paper shows conceptually and experimentally that underactuated robotic hands can stably grasp and manipulate objects placed between the fingertips. Small objects grasped between a planar pair of two-link underactuated fingers having one tendon each are shown to be manipulable over a range of in-hand configurations that can be predicted analytically. The manifold of predicted stable configurations is found by seeking the minimum energy configuration of the elastic fingers under constraints from the actuator tendons and the contact constraints with the grasped objects. Experimental results are shown from HANDLE, a novel underactuated hand capable of a variety of dexterous in-hand tasks.