SBIR Phase I: A Resilient and Underactuated Robotic Hand Capable of Both Power and Precision Grasping

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目提出了一种基于新型扭矩切换机制的机器人抓取器，以及一种具有嵌入式传感功能的结构柔顺的手指。工业中的机械手往往很脆弱，缺乏执行广泛的抓取和操纵任务的灵活性。学术界的机械手往往更灵巧，但往往更笨重，拥有大的控制柜和/或前臂。此外，当机器人工作单元内发生碰撞时，通常是手(夹持器)产生影响。与传统的抓手相比，这只手将拥有更大的灵活性，能够对大大小小的物体进行动力抓取和夹持，同时能够完全完好无损地吸收重大碰撞并在碰撞中幸存下来，同时提醒机器人系统更加谨慎地移动。第一阶段的项目目标是：(1)创建主动扭矩切换机构的原型；(2)创建带有嵌入式传感器的弹性聚合物连杆的原型；(3)建立两指手的原型；(4)评估原型手的功能。第二阶段将产生一只紧凑、耐用的手，能够抓住和操纵广泛的物体。这个项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是三方面的；将有一般的商业影响，直接的商业影响和社会影响。一般的商业影响解决了目前可用的金属夹持器装置的缺点。这些夹爪装置阻碍了机器人系统的使用，从而破坏了制造业的生产率。拟议的解决方案通过更容易地采用机器人工作单元来提高制造业的竞争力。直接的商业影响是当地(美国)工人将组装、测试和运输这些产品。95%的零部件将来自美国的制造商和OEM供应商，这将提振美国经济。与此同时，该公司50%的成品出口到海外市场。这种社会影响源于这样一种想法，即昂贵的机器人受到损害的风险阻碍了创新，并将编程工作留给了精选的几个编程专家？拟议的解决方案邀请生产线工人重返流程。在没有碰撞的高成本的情况下，工人(真正的专家)被鼓励进行实验和规划过程改进。否则，公司会自动将这些工人从他们的熟练工作中解救出来，这些工人随后会加入失业人员的行列，而公司实际上失去了理解和创新流程的能力。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes a robotic grasper based on a novel torque switching mechanism, and a structurally compliant finger with embedded sensing. Robotic hands in industry tend to be fragile and lack the dexterity to perform a wide range of grasping and manipulation tasks. Robotic hands in academia tend to be more dexterous yet tend to be bulky, possessing large controller cabinets and/or forearms.Furthermore, when a collision occurs within a robotic workcell it is usually the hand (gripper) that makes impact. The proposed hand will have greater dexterity than a conventional gripper, being able to perform both power grasps and pinch grasps on large and small objects and yet be able to absorb and survive major collisions fully intact while alerting the robot system to movemore cautiously. The Phase-I project objectives are: (1) create prototypes of an active torqueswitching mechanism; (2) create prototypes of a resilient polymer link with an embedded sensor; (3) build a prototype 2-fingered hand; (4) evaluate functionality of the prototype hand. Phase II will result in a compact, durable hand capable of grasping and manipulating a large range ofobjects.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is three-fold; there will be a general commercial impact, a direct commercial impact, and a societal impact. The general commercial impact addresses the shortcomings of metal gripper devices available today. These gripper devices discourage the use of robotic systems, thereby undermining manufacturing productivity.The proposed solution improves manufacturing competitiveness by enabling easier adoption of robotic work cells. The direct commercial impact is that local (US) workers will assemble, test, and ship these products. Ninety-five percent of the components will be sourced from US fabricators and OEM suppliers, boosting the US economy. Meanwhile, the company exports50% of its finished products to foreign markets. The societal impact stems from the idea that the risk of damage to an expensive robot discourages innovation and keeps the programming to a select few programming ?experts?. The proposed solution invites production line workers back into the process. Without the high cost of collisions, the worker (true expert) is encouraged toexperiment and program process improvements. Corporations otherwise automate these workers out of their skilled jobs who then join the unemployed while the company literally loses touch with the ability to understand and innovate processes.