A Replicated Hand - Tougher Than The Original Masterpiece
I always thought that human hand was the strongest and would never have a replica stronger than it. But does your hand have the robustness to bear strong blows from a hammer? Even this thought of getting blows from the hammer makes one afraid. But technologists have the answer to everything. The toughness of the robotic hands has always been a problem. These hands could never resist a force of more than 10 Newtons. This made their regular use always a problem. They would dash against things and break their fingers whose repairing was a tough job to do.
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German researchers have built an anthropomorphic robotic hand that has the strength to bear hard blows of the hammer and can also resist collisions with hard objects. The researchers at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, part of the German Aeroscope Center (DLR) paid more heed to the toughness of the robotic hand during designing. They just wanted to built the toughest robotic hand ever.
The DLR hand has the shape and size of a human hand. It has 5 fingers and power is supplied to them through a web of 38 tendons. Each tendon is connected to an individual motor on the forearm. The tendons are made up of a synthetic fiber called Dyneema. A spring mechanism is also connected to each tendon which makes it more elastic and ensures it to move and release kinetic energy just like the human hand itself. The unique capability which makes it differ from the other robotic hands is that it can control its stiffness. This DLR hand uses antagonistic actuation. The two joints of each finger are driven by tendons connected to motors. When the motors turn in the same direction the joint becomes elastic and moves and when they turn in opposite directions it stiffens. The motors tension the tendons and make them worthy enough to bear the violent shocks. The hand has a total of 19 degrees of freedom. The fingers move independently to grasp various objects. There can be a force up to 30 newtons exerted on the fingertips by the fingers and that is what makes it the toughest built hand so far.
The stiffness is not the only thing required. When there are manipulative jobs to be done and more accuracy is required then the DLR hand does so simply by adjusting the tendon motors. The spring mechanisms play an important role in detection of the type of object to be held and the amount of force required. The DLR hand keeps track of the elongation of the springs and detects how gentle an object is and decides the amount of stiffness with which it is to be held. The DLR hand can catch a ball thrown from meters away. The spring mechanism and the actuation have the strength to absorb this kinetic energy without producing any structural damages. The hand is operated by using special sensor gloves or by simply giving grasping commands. The control system is based on monitoring the joint angles.
So I think in near future we will soon be having IPL robotics cricket or baseball teams. How exciting it’s going to be!
Video on robust robot hand:
German researchers have built an anthropomorphic robotic hand that has the strength to bear hard blows of the hammer and can also resist collisions with hard objects. The researchers at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, part of the German Aeroscope Center (DLR) paid more heed to the toughness of the robotic hand during designing. They just wanted to built the toughest robotic hand ever.The DLR hand has the shape and size of a human hand. It has 5 fingers and power is supplied to them through a web of 38 tendons. Each tendon is connected to an individual motor on the forearm. The tendons are made up of a synthetic fiber called Dyneema. A spring mechanism is also connected to each tendon which makes it more elastic and ensures it to move and release kinetic energy just like the human hand itself. The unique capability which makes it differ from the other robotic hands is that it can control its stiffness. This DLR hand uses antagonistic actuation. The two joints of each finger are driven by tendons connected to motors. When the motors turn in the same direction the joint becomes elastic and moves and when they turn in opposite directions it stiffens. The motors tension the tendons and make them worthy enough to bear the violent shocks. The hand has a total of 19 degrees of freedom. The fingers move independently to grasp various objects. There can be a force up to 30 newtons exerted on the fingertips by the fingers and that is what makes it the toughest built hand so far.
The stiffness is not the only thing required. When there are manipulative jobs to be done and more accuracy is required then the DLR hand does so simply by adjusting the tendon motors. The spring mechanisms play an important role in detection of the type of object to be held and the amount of force required. The DLR hand keeps track of the elongation of the springs and detects how gentle an object is and decides the amount of stiffness with which it is to be held. The DLR hand can catch a ball thrown from meters away. The spring mechanism and the actuation have the strength to absorb this kinetic energy without producing any structural damages. The hand is operated by using special sensor gloves or by simply giving grasping commands. The control system is based on monitoring the joint angles.
So I think in near future we will soon be having IPL robotics cricket or baseball teams. How exciting it’s going to be!
Video on robust robot hand:
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