Bach

Abstract

In this work, we developed BACH (Belt–Augmented Compliant Hand), a compliant robotic hand equipped with active surfaces. The hand can securely grasp an object using power grasp and simultaneously manipulate the grasped object. The hand consists of three identical fingers, each with an actuated timing belt wrapped around a Fin Ray based compliant finger backbone. Each finger is mounted on a compliant pivot joint allowing for further adaptability. The combination of compliant mechanisms and active surfaces allows the hand to perform dexterous in-hand manipulation with great robustness. Multiple analyses were conducted to optimize and validate the design of BACH. The hand was experimentally tested for grasping and manipulating objects of various geometries and sizes, and it demonstrated highly robust and efficient robust in-hand manipulation capabilities.

Design

Analysis

Results

The compliant finger design and the pivotable fingers allow the hand to grasp objects of different sizes and shapes including a sphere, a long cylinder, an insulated bottle, a box, an irregular pentagon plate, an RC car wheel, and an irregularly shaped puzzle. All of these objects can be grasped with both pinch grasp and power grasp. They can also be securely grasped at different poses, which is the foundation of a stable in-hand manipulation.