Development of artificial hand gripper by using flex force sensor

Abstract

A human hand is a very complex grasping tool which can handle object of different sizes and shapes. Many research works have been done to develop an artificial robot hands with similar capabilities to a human hand, such a robot hand is also called a multi finger gripper. Most parts of this research are dedicated to control of multi finger grippers with emphasis on the finger tips or finger joints. By controlling a multi finger gripper, we enable the gripper to handle an object; in another words, controlling a multi finger gripper can be viewed in terms of controlling an object's pose and the forces between the object and its environment. Hence, an object pose controller with feedback from an object pose sensor suits multi finger gripper control. Also due to the non-linear dynamic system behavior in the joints of most multi finger grippers, an effective, easily-adaptable joint controller is employed. The paper discusses the object pose controller with great detail in a new joint controller. Since the joint controller is based on microcontroller and we do not use an exact analytical model for this case.

Quantitative Electrode Design Modeling of an Electroadhesive Lifting Device Based on the Localized Charge Distribution and Interfacial Polarization of Different Objects

“…As an alternative to the mechanical gripper, which usually requires strain or stress controlling units to avoid damage while picking up of fragile and/or soft objects, 1−3 the electroadhesive picking tool is considered attractive because it could intrinsically avoid damage to objects, without using such stress/strain control units. This electroadhesive picking tool adopts an interfacial electrostatic force, which is developed only at the interface of the objects in the shearing mode.…”

“…As an alternative to the mechanical gripper, which usually requires strain or stress controlling units to avoid damage while picking up of fragile and/or soft objects, − the electroadhesive picking tool is considered attractive because it could intrinsically avoid damage to objects, without using such stress/strain control units. This electroadhesive picking tool adopts an interfacial electrostatic force, which is developed only at the interface of the objects in the shearing mode. − The electroadhesive device is capable of adhering to almost any shape of any type of object made from steel, glass, paper, wood, concrete, and so forth, so long as these materials could allow the induced charges to be formed at the device–object interface. − It subsequently makes the electroadhesive device quite attractive as an ideal picking technology that can be used − in such areas as the warehouse industry, semiconductor manufacturing, robots, and so forth .…”

Evaluation of Flexible Force Sensors for Pressure Monitoring in Treatment of Chronic Venous Disorders

“…In recent years, thin, flexible force sensors such as the Peratech QTC™ [ 27 ], Interlink FSR ® [ 28 ], Sensitronics ® [ 29 ], Tactilus ® [ 30 ] and Tekscan Flexiforce ® [ 31 ] have appeared and been used as pressure sensors when the force is applied on their known surface area. This has found applications in fields such as robotics [ 32 , 33 , 34 ], sport [ 26 , 35 , 36 ], bioengineering [ 37 , 38 ] and medicine [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 ]. Force sensing resistors (FSRs) are suitable for medical applications due to their thin and flexible construction and ability to operate at low pressures.…”

Snake Robots for Surgical Applications: A Review

“…In another paper by Ramesh et al [144], the sensors incorporated in the terrain exploration snake robot (SenSnake, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA) consisted of a heptad array of piezoelectric layers between conductive steel threads to enable a lower resistance when a normal force was applied. In [145], the use of flex sensors established a pressure-force relationship between the contact surface and the end-effectors, such that varying bending angles produced varying resistances.…”