Enhancing the capabilities of soft robotic hands

该项目旨在提高柔性机械手的制造能力和可操作性。这些改进主要通过两种方式实现：通过改进各种3D打印技术，以便设计出无需人工干预即可生产的整个肢体；通过改进软机器人的驱动技术，使其在不堵塞人手的情况下模仿人手中的肌肉数量。假肢最初将是一组气动驱动的手指，配有相应的软材料支撑，最终将集成传感器，用于反馈电子控制系统。3D打印目前广泛用于“硬”应用，例如形成以前难以用传统方法制造的坚固塑料结构。它正逐渐被引入到“软”市场，更多兼容的材料被设计用于3D打印机。这些柔软的材料已经被证明类似于一些生物组织，因此可以进一步开发来模拟皮肤的感觉和触感。此外，在相同的打印周期内，可以加入类似骨骼的硬材料。这个项目背后的驱动之一是将这些硬材料和软材料结合起来，同时还通过塑料添加导电轨道，以便使用传感器和控制单元。目前市场上有很多版本的机器人手，但很少有人手拥有的自由度。例如，没有一个柔软的机器人手有一个完全对生的拇指。该项目旨在增加柔性机器人手的可控自由度，以提高对人手的模仿能力。这样做的动力来自于想要复制人类手的灵巧性，这使我们能够控制各种形状的物体。具有如此灵巧程度的机器人手将能够与周围环境进行更好的互动（物体操纵和触觉感应）。未来，这些手将能够与现有的人形机器人甚至假肢结合起来，提供更像人类的体验，并提高与周围物体互动的能力。此外，使用3D打印作为主要制造技术，产品应该更容易复制，增加技术的可及性。这项研究的新颖性源于生物灵感和现代制造能力的结合。目前还没有一种机器人可以在印刷电子设备的同时使用软机器人技术，也没有一种机器人的自由度与人手相同。这是该项目旨在使自己与众不同的地方。关于EPSRC的战略，这个项目属于EPSRC机器人研究领域。它可以被看作是与：- P1：引入下一代创新和颠覆性技术；人形手有望被修改用于假肢，为截肢者提供医疗保健；3D打印的进步可以被视为制造系统的改进。通过数字化转型推动业务创新o制造过程中缺乏对人为干预的依赖表明自主性有所提高- H4：开发未来的治疗技术-可以修改手以提供治疗和康复治疗（考虑手被用作增加中风患者力量的反馈机制）- H5推进非药物干预措施-如上所述，而且还有一个具有良好触觉和柔软触感的机器人伴侣，将比以前的市场上的机器人更愿意与之互动

This project is seeking to improve the manufacturing capability and operability for soft robotic hands. These improvements are to be achieved in two main ways: by progressing various 3D printing technologies in order to design entire limbs that can be produced without human interference; by improving the actuation technology for soft robotics to imitate the number of muscles within the human hand without congesting the hand itself. The limbs will begin as sets of pneumatically actuated finger digits with corresponding supporting soft materials and will eventually incorporate sensors for feedback into electronic control systems. 3D printing is currently used extensively for 'hard' applications such as forming strong plastic structures that were previously too difficult to fabricate with traditional means. It is gradually being introduced to the 'soft' market with more compliant materials being designed for use in 3D printers. These soft materials have been shown to be akin to some biological tissues and therefore can be further developed to emulate the feeling and touch of skin. Furthermore, within the same printing cycle, hard materials can be incorporated, which are similar to bone. One of the drives behind this project is then to combine these hard and soft materials, but also to add conductive tracks through the plastics to allow for sensors and control units to be used. The current market has many versions of robotic hands, but very few have the degrees of freedom (DOFs) that a human hand has. For example, there is not a case where a soft robot hand has a fully opposable thumb. This project seeks to increase the degrees of controllable freedom that can be achieved by a soft robotic hand in order to improve the mimicry of a human hand. The drive for this comes from wanting to copy the dexterity that human hands have, which provides us with an incredible amount of control over widely differently shaped objects. A robot hand with that amount of dexterity will be able to have much better interactions with its surroundings (object manipulation and tactile sensing). In future, these hands will be able to be combined with existing humanoid robots or even prosthetics and will provide a more human-like experience, with improved capacity for interacting with surrounding objects. Furthermore, with the use of 3D printing as a primary manufacturing technique, the product should be more easily reproducible, increasing the accessibility of the technology. The novelty of the research stems from the combination of bioinspiration and modern manufacturing capabilities. There is not currently a robot that uses soft robotics alongside printed electronics or one that has the same number of DOFs as a human hand. This is where the project aims to set itself apart. With regards to the EPSRC strategies, this project falls within the EPSRC Robotics research area. It can be seen to align with:- P1: Introduce the next generation of innovative and disruptive technologies o The humanoid hands will hopefully be able to be modified to be used in prosthetics, providing healthcare benefits to amputees o The advance in 3D printing can be seen to be an improvement in manufacturing systems- P4: Drive business innovation through digital transformation o The lack of reliance on human interference with the manufacturing process indicates that there is an improvement in autonomy- H4: Develop future therapeutic technologies o The hand can be modified to provide therapeutic and rehabilitative treatment (consider the hand being used as a feedback mechanism for increasing the strength of a patient who has suffered from a stroke)- H5 Advance non-medicinal interventions o As above, but also a robot companion with good tactile sensing and a soft touch will be more willingly interacted with than what is previously on the market