Dextrous robot hand experiments

Abstract

In this paper we describe the 4-fingered dextrous robotic hand with 24 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) we have developed. At each finger-tip a 6 DOF force/torque sensor is attached to measure contact forces directly. A heterogeneous parallel computing architecture based on transputers is used to implement the proposed grasp controller and the underlying hybrid position/force controllers for each finger. Experimental results of object trajectory following, object stiffness and friction coefficient estimation are shown.