The DIST-HAND robot

Abstract

This paper presents the prototype of the DIST robotic hand developed at the Graal-Lab of the University of Genova. In the current version, the hand is formed by a palm supporting four fingers. Each finger has four rotational degrees of freedom, and is equipped with custom built position sensors using Hall-effect transducers. The actuation of each finger is done using six tendons driven by five computer controlled DC motors. A kinematic analysis has been performed using simulation tools, with the goal of building a mechanism with size and mobility similar to those of human hand.