Numerical Analysis of the Grasp Configuration of a Planar 3 DOF Linkage Driven Underactuated Finger

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel method to investigate the grasp sequence of an underactuated (a.k.a. adaptive) finger with three degrees of freedom but only one actuator and find its final configuration. This method considers the magnitude and the sign of the torques generated on the phalanges of the finger through the contact points. By using these torques as indices, the algorithm calculates the values of the joint angles during the grasping sequence until the finger reaches its final configuration. To illustrate the effectiveness of this method a class of a 3DOF adaptive finger is chosen and analyzed and then, using the proposed methodology, its grasp configuration is calculated when grasping different fixed objects. Finally, simulations are repeated using a dynamic simulation package and the obtained results are compared to the proposed method. The results show that the method can properly estimate the final configuration of the grasp.