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Design and control of a three-fingered tendon-driven robotic hand with active and passive tendons

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Abstract

This paper presents a design of a three-fingered robotic hand driven by active and passive tendons and proposes control methods for this hand. The tendon-driven robotic hand consists of the thumb, the index and the middle fingers. The robotic thumb can move all the joints independently. In contrast, the index and the middle robotic fingers are under-actuated using the combination of active and passive tendons, and move the terminal two joints synchronously, which is one of the important features of the human digits. We present passivity-based impedance and force controllers for tendon-driven robotic fingers and discuss how to combine them for fast and secure grasps. We experimentally validate that the robotic hand moves fast and manipulates an object and demonstrate that the robotic hand grasps objects in diverse ways.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Robotics, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Noji-higashi, Kusatsu, Shiga , 535-8577, Japan

    Ryuta Ozawa

  2. Research & Development Division, Nabel Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan

    Kazunori Hashirii

  3. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

    Yohtaro Yoshimura

  4. Construction Machinery Engineering Department, Kubota Corporation, Osaka, Japan

    Michinori Moriya

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering Informatics, Meiji University, 1-1-1 Higashi-Mita, Tama, Kawasaki, Kanagawa , 214-8571, Japan

    Hiroaki Kobayashi

Authors
  1. Ryuta Ozawa
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  2. Kazunori Hashirii
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  3. Yohtaro Yoshimura
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  4. Michinori Moriya
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  5. Hiroaki Kobayashi
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Correspondence to Ryuta Ozawa.

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Ozawa, R., Hashirii, K., Yoshimura, Y. et al. Design and control of a three-fingered tendon-driven robotic hand with active and passive tendons. Auton Robot 36, 67–78 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10514-013-9362-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10514-013-9362-z

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