I-Corps: Humanoid Robotic Hand for Use in Fulfillment Centers

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a robotic hand to complete component pick and place operations across industrial applications such as E-commerce fulfillment and automotive assembly. While other gripping solutions such as suction cups and simple grippers are commercially available and affordable, these solutions are unable to grasp the full range of products found in such industrial applications, preventing automation of these operations. Commercialization of the proposed robotic hand may lead to automation of pick and place operations across several industries, resulting in lower costs, improved safety, and increased accuracy. This I-Corps project is based on the development of actuation technologies that can replicate the capabilities of human muscle at the same size of those that articulate the human hand. The proposed technology, in combined with several other innovations, may make it possible to produce a robotic hand that replicates the capabilities of the human hand in size, weight, strength, speed, and dexterity. Existing actuation technologies are unable to replicate the capabilities of human muscle at this size, leading to grippers and hands that are simultaneously slower, weaker, and less dexterous than the human hand. Previous basic research in actuator technologies and mechanism and transmission design enable this improvement in capabilities over existing technologies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.