Structural Synthesis of Multi-Fingered Hands

Abstract

The kinematic structure of a mechanical hand typically resembles the skeleton of a human hand and it is usually designed to emulate a subset of the functions of a human hand. This paper analyzes the structural characteristics associated with the functional requirements of a mechanical hand. Using the mobility criterion and force closure concept, constraint equations for structural synthesis of multi-fingered mechanical hands are derived. A procedure for systematic enumeration of the kinematic structures of mechanical hands is established. An atlas of feasible kinematic structures of multi-fingered hands having a mobility number ranging from 3 to 6 and contact degrees of freedom ranging from 1 to 5 is developed. Further, two theorems concerning the structural characteristics of mechanical hands are presented.