A FLEXIBLE ROBOT HAND WITH EMBEDDED SMA ACTUATORS

Abstract

This paper describes the development of an active robot hand, which allows smooth and lifelike motions for anthropomorphic grasping .An active robot finger 10mm in outer diameter with a shape memory alloy (SMA) wire actuator embedded to the finger with a constant distance from the geometric center of the finger was designed and fabricated. The practical specifications of the SMA wire and the flexible rod were determined based on a series of formulae. The active finger consists of two bending parts, the SMA actuators, and a connecting part. The mechanical properties of the bending part are investigated. The control system on the base of resistance feedback is also presented. Finally, we design a robot hand with three fingers, and the grasping experiment was carried out to prove the hand works well.