BRL/Pisa/IIT SoftHand: A Low-Cost, 3D-Printed, Underactuated, Tendon-Driven Hand with Soft and Adaptive Synergies

Haoran Li, Christopher J. Ford, Matteo Bianchi, Manuel G. Catalano, Efi Psomopoulou, Nathan F. Lepora*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This letter introduces the BRL/Pisa/IIT (BPI) SoftHand: a single actuator-driven, low-cost, 3D-printed, tendon-driven, underactuated robot hand that can be used to perform a range of grasping tasks. Based on the adaptive synergies of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand, we design a new joint system and tendon routing to facilitate the inclusion of both soft and adaptive synergies, which helps us balance durability, affordability and grasping performance of the hand. The focus of this work is on the design, simulation, synergies and grasping tests of this SoftHand. The novel phalanges are designed and printed based on linkages, gear pairs and geometric restraint mechanisms, and can be applied to most tendon-driven robotic hands. We show that the robot hand can successfully grasp and lift various target objects and adapt to hold complex geometric shapes, reflecting the successful adoption of the soft and adaptive synergies. We intend to open-source the design of the hand so that it can be built cheaply on a home 3D-printer.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)8745-8751
Number of pages7
JournalIEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Volume7
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Multi-fingered hands
  • underactuated robots

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'BRL/Pisa/IIT SoftHand: A Low-Cost, 3D-Printed, Underactuated, Tendon-Driven Hand with Soft and Adaptive Synergies'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this