robotics

Article
A Single-Actuated, Cable-Driven, and Self-Contained Robotic
Hand Designed for Adaptive Grasps
Negin Nikafrooz and Alexander Leonessa *

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,

Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; [email protected]
* Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Developing a dexterous robotic hand that mimics natural human hand movements is
challenging due to complicated hand anatomy. Such a practical design should address several
requirements, which are often conflicting and force the designer to prioritize the main design
characteristics for a given application. Therefore, in the existing designs the requirements are
only partially satisfied, leading to complicated and bulky solutions. To address this gap, a novel
single-actuated, cable-driven, and self-contained robotic hand is presented in this work. This five-
fingered robotic hand supports 19 degrees of freedom (DOFs) and can perform a wide range of
precision and power grasps. The external structure of fingers and the thumb is inspired by Pisa/IIT
SoftHand, while major modifications are implemented to significantly decrease the number of parts
and the effect of friction. The cable configuration is inspired by the tendon structure of the hand
anatomy. Furthermore, a novel power transmission system is presented in this work. This mechanism
addresses compactness and underactuation, while ensuring proper force distribution through the
fingers and the thumb. Moreover, this power transmission system can achieve adaptive grasps of



objects with unknown geometries, which significantly simplifies the sensory and control systems.


A 3D-printed prototype of the proposed design is fabricated and its base functionality is evaluated
Citation: Nikafrooz, N.; Leonessa, A.
through simulations and experiments.
A Single-Actuated, Cable-Driven, and
Self-Contained Robotic Hand
Keywords: robotic hand; cable-driven mechanism; adaptive grasp; underactuation
Designed for Adaptive Grasps.
Robotics 2021, 10, 109. https://
doi.org/10.3390/robotics10040109

Academic Editor: Saïd Zeghloul 1. Introduction

Prosthetic hand design is an active field of research. However, despite years of devel-
Received: 27 July 2021 opment, a compact, self-contained (meaning the hand itself contains all the mechanical and
Accepted: 19 September 2021 electrical components), and dexterous robotic hand design has remained mostly elusive.
Published: 23 September 2021 Through several research studies, the functionality of robotic hands has been improved by
focusing on affordability, portability, weight, design simplicity, number of DOFs, number of
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral actuators, and the ability to provide a safe, powerful, and robust grasp. The design require-
with regard to jurisdictional claims in ments can be summarized in three basic design factors, namely anthropomorphic ([1–5]),
published maps and institutional affil- underactuated ([3,6–9]), and compliant ([2,5,10–12]) design. With an anthropomorphic
iations.
design, hand DOFs and natural movements can be reproduced. An underactuated design
provides a lightweight, portable, simple, and likely self-contained robotic hand. Lastly,
a compliant design helps with robust and safe interaction with the environment. Various
design techniques that are used to implement these requirements are discussed as follows.
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Generating natural human hand movements is one of the important design require-
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. ments. Designs that aim to meet this requirement are often inspired by studies of the
This article is an open access article human hand anatomy and attempt to implement the same structure and articulation. This
distributed under the terms and design method, referred to as anthropomorphic design, has been used widely in the litera-
conditions of the Creative Commons
ture. The detailed biomechanics of the human hand is implemented to replicate the hand
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
dexterity with the price of using up to 10 actuators and mounting them on the forearm [1,2].
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
Although the appearance of these robotic hands is similar to the human hand articulation,
4.0/).

Robotics 2021, 10, 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics10040109 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/robotics

Robotics 2021, 10, 109 2 of 15

they are massive and not self-contained. It is worth mentioning that being self-contained
may not be a necessary requirement for the robotic hand. The human hand itself is not
self-contained and most of the muscles that trigger movements of the fingers are in the
forearm. However, a self-contained design helps with easily becoming incorporated into
the different grasping applications, such as different robotic arms, without any need for
additional connection and part-placement considerations.
It is, therefore, evident that anthropomorphic design involves a balancing act between
the design simplicity and capturing the human hand dexterity. Considering such trade-
off, others have implemented the hand biomechanics structure partially by focusing on
replicating the joints’ movement [3–5]. Although these latter designs are less similar to the
human hand in appearance, they are simple, lightweight, and highly underactuated.
Given the hand’s high number of DOFs and small size, it is extremely challenging
to actuate each joint of the robotic hand separately due to space limitations. Therefore,
several methods have been used to design underactuated mechanisms [3,6–9]. Among
these methods, the “synergy” idea is a proof that a highly underactuated mechanism
can generate the most common hand movements [6,7]. For the first time, synergy was
defined in a principal component analysis study on the human hand movements, which
showed that hand joint angles are not controlled independently. Additionally, this study
showed that the two first principal components, which can be considered to be two sets
of hand postures, can reproduce up to 80% of the hand movements, while other principal
components provide additional details [13]. This idea does not necessarily provide a simple
design but helps with simplifying the control process significantly.
Another common method to design underactuated systems is using differential mech-
anisms [3,8,9]. These mechanisms distribute the power of the actuator(s) evenly through
the engaged joints and can be designed based on levers [8,10,14], pulleys [5], or flexible ele-
ments [9]. Additionally, underactuated robotic hands are also implemented through cable-
driven designs [4,15], linkage mechanisms [16], or a combination of both methods [17],
where each finger is actuated separately. These designs provide the opportunity to control
each finger’s movement and perform more complicated tasks, such as object manipulation.
Although these types of robotic hands can accommodate a higher variety of postures of
the fingers, the synergy idea has proved that a proper power transmission design along
with maximum one or two actuators can help with up to 80% of the ADL. Hence, synergy
underscores the utility of a single-actuated design, while differential mechanisms provide a
pathway to achieving such a design. Even though friction poses a challenge for differential
mechanisms, they can enable compact and mostly self-contained designs.
Robotic hands can be fabricated out of soft or rigid material. One of the main short-
comings of a fully rigid robot is that it needs extra safety elements. This is often achieved
by adding compliancy to the design. Developing compliant passive parts is a simple
implementation of this idea. For instance, elastic elements or springs are used to passively
model extension movement of the fingers [2,5,10,11]. Fully soft robotic hand designs using
pneumatic actuators have also been proposed [12]. Although the soft pneumatic robotic
hand provides a robust and simple design, it needs extra elements (i.e., pressure sensor,
pneumatic valve, compressor, and tank) and regular maintenance due to the pneumatic
actuators [12]. Therefore, providing a portable and self-contained robotic hand based on
soft materials and pneumatic actuators has proven difficult thus far. On the other hand,
compliant passive parts add more design flexibility, especially in choosing the type and
size of the actuator(s).
Having the three design factors in mind, the Pisa/IIT SoftHand [5] has been found
as one of the most encompassing implementations of a robotic hand’s requirements. This
robotic hand covers 19 (out of 20) DOFs of the human hand and can reproduce hand
movements and grasp postures. The first version of this robotic hand proposed a single
actuated design [5]. In the modified version, the synergy idea has been used to improve the
design and control system by adding another actuator [18,19]. This cable-driven design is
self-contained and can provide robust and safe grasps using passive elastic elements. One
Robotics 2021, 10, 109 3 of 15

cable is used, with a large number of pulleys through the fingers, the thumb, and the palm,
to actuate all DOFs. One of the main shortcomings of this design is the high number of
parts, which leads to complicated design, fabrication, and assembly processes. Moreover,
friction between the tendon and pulleys affects the hand functionality and performance
significantly. Tuning friction is extremely challenging and time consuming, and also needs
to be done separately and specifically for each assembly. Although this robotic hand can
provide precise hand movements, the drawbacks make it less practical.
In this study, the mechanical design of a novel self-contained, cable-driven, and single-
actuated robotic hand is presented. The proposed robotic hand strikes a balance among the
three abovementioned design factors. The rigid external structure of the thumb and the
fingers is inspired by the Pisa/IIT SoftHand [19]. The cable configuration is inspired by the
tendon structure of the human hand. Moreover, the combination of the proposed cable con-
figuration and power transmission mechanisms can provide adaptive grasps. The design
functionality is evaluated through simulations and using a 3D printed prototype.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. The design approach and objectives are
described briefly in Section 2. The mechanical design of the robotic hand is presented in
Section 3, followed by a discussion on the simulation and experimental results in Section 4.
The concluding remarks are presented in Section 5.

2. Design Objectives and Approach

The human hand can provide precise movements and grasp postures because of
the unique anatomical structures. Replicating all the biological details may lead to a
complicated design for a robotic hand, which is not generally desirable. Accordingly, in the
proposed design, the main goal is reproducing the hand movements by modeling joints’
DOFs and range of motion (ROM) and performing different grasp types with the minimum
required actuation and sensor reading inputs.
Safe interaction of the robotic hand with the environment and the human body is one
of the important design concerns. Cable-driven mechanisms can address this requirement
by adding more compliance to the design [20,21]. Additionally, these mechanisms can
provide a lightweight and potentially compact robotic hand. Therefore, a cable-driven
system seems to be a good power transmission candidate for this application.
Underactuation, along with a proper cable-driven power transmission design, can
ensure a simple and portable robotic hand. It is important to mention that an underac-
tuated design can limit some of the hand movements, especially when separate control
of each joint of the fingers is required (such as object manipulation). However, studies
on the human hand movements have shown that the first hand synergy, which is the
extension and adduction of Metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints (the human hand joints
and movements will be discussed in the next section), can perform a great range of grasp
movements required for activities of daily living (ADL) [7,13]. Moreover, minimizing the
number of actuators potentially simplifies the sensory and control systems. Therefore,
an underactuated cable-driven mechanism provides a solution for a self-contained robotic
hand that can perform a wide range of ADL grasp tasks.
The key design requirements which are addressed through this design can be summa-
rized as supporting human hand DOF and joint’ ROM, being lightweight, compact, safe,
simple, and portable.

3. Mechanical Design and Simulation Results

A 3D printed prototype of the proposed robotic hand is shown in Figure 1b. The
overall length and thickness of the robotic hand and width of the palm are 210 mm,
62.8 mm, and 88 mm, respectively, as it is shown in Figure 1a. The mechanical design of
this robotic hand can be studied in two parts. First, design of thumb and fingers is discussed,
where the focus is on supporting all DOFs and joints’ ROM. Then, the power transmission
mechanism is explained, which distributes the actuation power between the thumb and
fingers. The choice of power transmission system and the employed mechanisms determine
Robotics 2021, 10, 109 4 of 15

important characteristics of the robotic hand, namely single-actuation, self-containment,

grasp adaptability, and design, fabrication, and maintenance simplicity.

Figure 1. (a) The partially exploded view of the proposed robotic hand CAD model, (b) The 3D printed prototype of the
presented robotic hand.

3.1. Thumb and Fingers Design

To perform a wide range of ADL tasks, the thumb and fingers should provide enough
DOFs and ROM. Therefore, a five-fingered robotic hand is proposed which supports
19 DOFs and the complete ROM for each joint. The phalanges, joints, and DOFs of the
designed finger is shown in Figure 2. Each finger has 3 joints, namely Distal Interphalangeal
(DIP), Proximal Interphalangeal (PIP), and MCP joints, and 4 DOFs. Each of the DIP
and PIP joints has one flexion/extension DOF, while the MCP joint has 2 DOFs, namely
flexion/extension and abduction/adduction. Similar structure of phalanges is used for
the thumb. The only difference is that the thumb has 3 joints and 3 DOFs. Since power
and precision grasps are more common and repetitive types for performing ADL, these
movements are prioritized in comparison to lateral grasp, where abduction/adduction
movement of the thumb is required. Therefore, the abduction/adduction movement of the
thumb is not modeled in this design.
The joints’ ROM are reported in Table 1 and compared to the functional ROM of
the human hand joints [22], mainly because the main focus of the proposed design is
on performing common grasp scenarios through ADL. It is worth mentioning that the
maximum ROM of the human hand is more than the reported functional ROM in Table 1.
To determine the functional joints’ ROM, angular movements of the joints are measured
while healthy subjects are asked to perform some ADL, such as holding a cup or turning
a key [22]. As it can be seen in Table 1, the ROM of the thumb MCP joint is out of the
reported ROM in [22]. Since abduction/adduction joint of the thumb is not modeled in the
presented design, a broader ROM for MCP joint is required for performing reliable grasps.
Robotics 2021, 10, 109 5 of 15

Figure 2. The proposed finger design elements: phalanges, joints, and DOFs.

Table 1. Fingers and thumb ROM, all values are reported in angular degrees.

MCP Joint PIP Joint DIP Joint IP Join

Thumb 70 NA NA 45
Fingers 75 85 45 NA
Functional thumb [22] 10–32 NA NA 2–43
Functional fingers [22] 33–73 36–86 20–61 NA

The rigid external structure of the thumb and fingers is inspired by the Pisa/IIT
SoftHand [19] and major modifications have been implemented to improve the fingers
functionality. In the Pisa/IIT SoftHand design, one structure of a phalange is repeated to
create the whole finger or thumb. The phalange design of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand is shown
in Figure 3a. To ensure an accurate movement of the joints, a partially geared coupling
is designed on the rolling surface of each side parts. Elastic elements are considered to
keep the phalanges together, constrain the gear contacts, increase the system elasticity,
provide a safe grasp, and passively extend the fingers. Another interesting feature of this
design is that the thumb and fingers do not have any mechanical joints, while all human
thumb and finger joints are modeled (excluding thumb abduction/adduction DOF). This
feature helps with simpler and faster assembly process. Despite all the advantages of
the Pisa/IIT SoftHand design, it still has some shortcomings which decrease the hand
functionality significantly.

Figure 3. (a) The partially exploded sketch of one phalange of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand and its cable
configuration [19], (b) The proposed phalange design and its cable configuration.

The major drawback of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand design is the large number of parts.
As it can be seen in Figure 3a, each phalange is composed of 12 parts. More specifically,
a large number of pulleys (26 pulleys for one finger assembly, without considering the
large number of pulleys in the palm section) is used in this design, which magnify the effect
of friction and slow down the fabrication and assembly processes. Moreover, derailment
is one of the challenges of the cable and pulley system implementation. This happens
when the cable pretension is not tuned accurately. The large number of pulleys increases
the chance of derailment. Furthermore, the assembly and maintenance processes of the
Pisa/IIT SoftHand are more complicated and time consuming due to the large number of
parts and small size of pulleys. Additionally, the cable configuration needs to be tuned
Robotics 2021, 10, 109 6 of 15

separately and specifically for each assembled hand to minimize friction. In the proposed
design, these shortcomings are addressed.
The proposed phalange design is shown in Figure 3b. The number of parts is reduced
significantly (from 12 parts for each phalange in the Pisa/IIT SoftHand [19] to only one
part in the proposed design). In the proposed design, all pulleys through the thumb and
fingers are eliminated. These modifications simplify the design and consequently, speed
up the fabrication and assembly processes significantly. Moreover, derailment, friction,
and tuning concerns are addressed.
The cable configuration of the proposed design is inspired by the tendon structure of
the hand anatomy. The human hand Flexor tendons are responsible for bending the thumb
and fingers and help with grasping objects. These tendons are connected to the forearm
bones from one side and to the Intermediate and Distal phalanges bones from the other
end. To implement the same configuration on the robotic hand, a set of cable guides is
designed for each phalange. These cable guides imitate the human hand ligaments and
restrict the cable to move alongside the designed thumb and fingers. The proposed cable
configuration is shown in Figure 4. For the Distal phalange, the cable guide has two parts:
closer to the DIP joint, the guide is a straight channel starting at the palmar side, and at the
fingertip, it is a U-shaped channel at the dorsal side of the phalange. This configuration
helps with maximizing the normal component of the contact force at the fingertip. For other
phalanges, the guide is a straight line at the palmar side to maximize the moment arm and
consequently the moment at each joint. Additionally, in comparison to the pulley system
of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand (Figure 3a), sharp curvatures of the configured cable around the
pulleys are replaced with straight channels. This design of the cable guides significantly
helps with reducing friction.

Figure 4. Schematic of the elastic band and the proposed cable configuration of the thumb and fingers.

Flexion movement of DIP, PIP, IP, and MCP joints are achieved actively by reducing the
length of the cable through the thumb and fingers using the proposed cable-driven power
transmission mechanism. Abduction/adduction DOF of the fingers and flexion/extension
DOF of the Carpometacarpal (CMC) joint of the thumb are actuated passively using a pin
at the base of the fingers. This passive design provides enough ROM for the fingers’ MCP
joints to abduct (move the fingers away from the middle of the hand) and easier grasp
different size and geometry of objects. However, routing the cables through the set of
pins, which are incorporated into the pretension mechanism and discussed in Section 3.2.3,
constrains this passive movement. Therefore, the pretension mechanism along with the
elasticity of the cables ensure the joints’ elasticity and prevent them from moving loosely.
Extension movement of the thumb and fingers are generated by elastic elements, which are
incorporated along the dorsal side of the phalanges. The elastic elements are 2 mm round
heavy elastic bands. The schematic of this elastic element can be seen in the top portion of
Figure 4, in black color.
Robotics 2021, 10, 109 7 of 15

3.2. Power Transmission System Design

For a robust and powerful grasp, it is crucial to distribute the actuation force properly
between the thumb and fingers. The proposed power transmission system, which is
shown in Figure 5, presents a compact, lightweight, and simple implementation of a single-
actuated and cable-driven robotic hand. One piece of cable, which is marked as actuation
cable in Figure 5, is attached to the motor shaft from one end and is tied to the slider from
the other end. This cable is responsible to pull the slider along the palm and actuate palm
mechanisms. These mechanisms ensure accurate movement of the thumb and fingers and
are designed and implemented as follows.

Figure 5. Power transmission mechanism of the proposed robotic hand, (a) 3D printed prototype,
(b) CAD model.

3.2.1. Differential Mechanism

Grasp posture and contact forces are important elements of an effective grasp. This
mechanism is designed to sync the movement of the fingers and distribute the actuation
force between them. The CAD model of this mechanism is shown in Figure 6a.

Figure 6. Differential mechanism of the proposed robotic hand, (a) CAD model, (b) design parameters.

The differential mechanism consists of a lever, at which the cables of the fingers
are tied. The lever is hinged to the slider, which travels along the palm and pulls the
cables. The cables of the fingers are tied to the lever at specific tie points. The tie points
are positioned to maximize the cable forces of the index and middle fingers (as they are
involved in most grasp types) and minimize the force difference among all fingers (to
Robotics 2021, 10, 109 8 of 15

synchronize movement of fingers). The former requirement determines on which side of

the hinge a particular tie point should be placed, while the latter can be met by optimizing
the relative distance between the tie points and the hinge. This can be formulated as the
following optimization problem.

minimize Var ( F ),
xi

subject to xi ≥ a, i = 1, 2, 3, 4. (1)
− xi ≥ b − l, i = 1, 2, 3, 4.
xi − x j ≥ c, i, j = 1, 2, 3, 4.

where xi denotes the distance of each tie point from the hinge and

F = [ FIndex , FMiddle , FRing , FLittle ] T , (2)

denotes the vector of cable forces through the fingers. Based on the design geometric
constraints and material strength, design parameters are determined to be a = 7.5 mm,
b = 4 mm, and c = 5.5 mm, in order to restrict the minimum distance of the tie points from
the hinge connection, the lever ends, and other tie points, respectively.
The differential mechanism can also contribute to developing adaptive grasps, which is
the ability of the robotic hand to grasp objects with unknown geometries. This characteristic
simplifies the control and sensory systems of the robotic hand. Therefore, the position of
tie points are determined to achieve this goal. Since index and middle fingers are involved
in most types of grasp, each tie point should be placed on one side of the lever, with respect
to the hinge. This choice of layout ensures a strong and robust grasp, even when one of
these two fingers is blocked because of the geometry of the object.
Several simulations in Adams software are conducted to search the design space
based on the defined optimization problem. The Adams cable modeling toolbox makes it a
powerful software for modeling this design. The material of the cable is tuned through
the Young’s modulus parameter of the cable. Moreover, the passive elastic elements are
modeled as springs [23]. In this set of simulations, it is assumed that the cables of the
ring and little fingers are tied to one point, where x3 = x4 = 28 mm. This assumption
was motivated by the space limitation concerns. The cable forces are studied while the
position of middle and index fingers’ tie points (i.e., x1 and x2 ) and the length of the lever
are changed through a determined parameter grid. Parameter bounds are defined based
on empirical observations in several primary experiments conducted during initial design
iterations. Space limitation was also considered in defining the bounds. Accordingly,
parameters x1 and x2 are chosen in the range of [16, 34.5] mm and [2, 16] mm, respectively.
On the other hand, a binary choice is considered for the lever’s length, which is either
60 mm or 74 mm. A total of 30 points from this parameter space are used for simulations.
The points are selected to cover the parameter space, with more points chosen in regions
where better solutions were found from initial simulations. Figure 7 shows the summarized
result of these simulations.
Results of a similar simulation for two different length of the lever is shown in
Figure 7a. Less variance values of the longer lever, where l = 74 mm, shows that the
force is distributed more evenly between the fingers. For simulations with the longer
lever, the fingers postures of two simulations are demonstrated in Figure 7b and the
corresponding cable forces are shown in Figure 7c. It can be seen that despite the similar
force distribution, the fingers may exhibit different postures. Therefore, it appears that
proper force distribution alone is not sufficient to optimize the grasp posture and fine
tuning is still needed to improve the fingers movements.
Robotics 2021, 10, 109 9 of 15

Figure 7. Results of ADAMS simulations, (a) one sample of variance comparison for two different lengths of the lever,
(b) posture of fingers for two set of simulations with l = 74 mm, (c) cable forces for the same simulations of part (b), where
l = 74 mm.

To address these concerns, a few holes are considered along the lever to provide more
tuning flexibility. Moreover, using a longer lever and considering more holes allows for
separating the tie points for little and ring fingers. This was found to lead to better tuned
postures of the robotic hand. Therefore, in the final design, each finger is tied to a separate
point, where x1 = 27.2 mm, x2 = 7.6 mm, x3 = 19.2 mm, and x4 = 25 mm.

3.2.2. Slider-Crank Mechanism

This mechanism is highlighted in Figure 8a. It synchronizes the thumb and the fingers
movement and allows the thumb and fingers to bend simultaneously and provide a natural
grasp. Schematic of this mechanism is shown in Figure 8b. The slider moves along the
palm. The thumb’s cable is tied to the pulley. Therefore, the thumb flexes and its cable is
pulled when the pulley rotates. The mechanism parameters are tuned so that full travel of
the slider along the palm (distance d in Figure 8b), which causes the fingers flexion, reduces
enough cable length through the thumb (Rα) to completely flex it, as well.
Robotics 2021, 10, 109 10 of 15

Figure 8. Slider-Crank mechanism, (a) the CAD model, (b) schematic of the linkage mechanism.

3.2.3. Pretension Mechanism

To tune the initial position of the fingers, a pretension mechanism is considered. This
mechanism adjusts the initial posture of the fingers by reducing the cable length through
the fingers. Therefore, determining the relationship between the cable length reduction
and the joint angles can provide valuable information about the requirements and tuning
process of the pretension mechanism and movement of the fingers.
Here, this relationship is derived for the index finger. The parametric model of one
joint of the finger is shown in Figure 9, where θi is the joint angle, l1,i is the initial free cable
length, and l2,i is the free cable length at θi position of the joint, and i = 1, 2, 3 represents the
MCP, PIP, and DIP joints, respectively. ai , b1,i , and b2,i are the joint geometric parameters.
The cable length reduction due to θi rotation of the ith joint can be written as

∆li = l2,i − l1,i , (3)

where
l1,i = b1,i + b2,i , (4)
and l2,i can be calculated using the joint geometry and cosine rule,
q
2
l2,i =2a2i + b1,i
2 2
+ b2,i −2 ( a2i + b1,i
2 )( a2 + b2 ).
i 2,i
(5)
. cos (π − (θi + tan−1 ( ai /b1,i ) + tan−1 ( ai /b2,i ))).

As seen in (5), l2,i is a function of the joint angle θi and the geometry parameters ai , b1,i ,
and b2,i . Therefore, considering a set of finger joint angles, the total cable length reduction
through the finger is

∆l (θ MCP , θ PIP , θ DIP ) = ∆l MCP (θ MCP ) + ∆l PIP (θ PIP ) + ∆l DIP (θ DIP ). (6)

The inverse kinematic of a single finger can be solved using (3)–(6) to determine how
much cable should be pulled to achieve a desired finger posture (desired MCP, PIP, and DIP
joint angles). Through this analysis, it is assumed that the finger performs a free flex,
meaning that the finger is bending without any obstacle blocking its joint space. Therefore,
(3)–(6) are not valid for grasp analysis.
Robotics 2021, 10, 109 11 of 15

Figure 9. Schematic of a finger joint.

A simulation in Simscape/Simulink environment is conducted to determine the

finger posture corresponding to a specific amount of cable length reduction through the
finger. First, the simulated finger model is validated using the derived inverse kinematic.
With a specific set of joint angles, the cable length reduction is calculated from both the
analytical equations and the simulation. Figure 10 shows this comparison for a specific set
of joint angles, where the results of both methods match closely. The reason for the slight
deviation of the Simulink results from the analytical calculations can be the difference in
the parameters used for the two cases. Specifically, the Simulink model is based on the
CAD model of a finger assembly, whereas the geometry parameters used in the analytical
study are simple approximations of the true geometry.
Having validated the simulation model with the analytical approach, the model is
used to estimate the joint angles corresponding to the cable length reduction of the finger.
The result of this simulation is demonstrated in Figure 11. Joint angles for four selected
values of cable length reduction are highlighted in the figure and the corresponding finger
postures are demonstrated. It is evident that for 15.7 mm cable length reduction, the finger’s
joints have reached their maximum ROM. This information is used to determine the
sliding course of the differential mechanism and parameters of the slider-crank mechanism.
Moreover, Figure 11 shows that even 3.92 mm cable length reduction through the finger
leads to almost 20 degree joint angles, which are considerable amounts of flexion. Therefore,
a mechanism with fine tuning capability is required to implement the desired pretension
of the cables. The implementation uncertainties, such as the variations in the elastic band
stiffness, further highlight the need for fine tuning of cable pretensions.
Functionality of several pretension mechanisms were assessed. For instance, a ratchet
and pawl mechanism was considered due to the accurate tuning system. However, space
limitations rendered this mechanism less practical for this design. Moreover, the mechanism
could not offer the required fine-tuned pretension. Therefore, an alternative approach,
shown in Figure 12 is considered here. Specifically, a mesh of pins is mounted on the palm
and close to the base of the fingers. The cables are routed through this mesh of pins during
assembly to apply the desired pretension. Moreover, a set of pins are considered closer
to the base of the fingers to ensure that the rotation of the lever does not cause unwanted
abduction/adduction movement through the fingers. This approach leads to a simple
design and flexible tuning.
Robotics 2021, 10, 109 12 of 15

Figure 10. Comparison of numerical simulation and analytical calculation for cable length reduction
for a specific set of joint angles.

Figure 11. Joint angle and finger posture variations with the cable length reduction.

Figure 12. A CAD model of the pretension mechanism.

Combination of the three abovementioned mechanisms (Differential, Slider-Crank,

and pretension mechanisms) provide a simple design. In comparison to the Pisa/IIT
SoftHand [19], the number of parts at the palm is significantly reduced, which plays an
important role in simplifying and speeding up the fabrication and assembly processes.
Moreover, the resulting robotic hand is lightweight and consequently portable. The small
number of parts guarantees compactness and self-containment due to the possibility of
mounting all the components on the palm. Additionally, using the differential mechanism
helps with single-actuation of the robotic hand and performing adaptive grasps. The robotic
hand functionality is evaluated through experiments, as explained in the next section.
Robotics 2021, 10, 109 13 of 15

3.3. Fabrication
A prototype of the proposed design is 3D printed. Most of the parts are printed
with Vero material using a Connex3 3D printer, since they are not under high actuation or
external loads. Finite element analysis (FEA) results have shown that the stress distribution
of some of the differential mechanism parts is beyond the yield strength of the Vero material.
Therefore, these parts are 3D printed using Titanium.
Different types of cables are evaluated to decrease friction while supporting enough
tensile load. Fishing lines have been found as the best options. Based on the experiments,
among the fishing lines, monofilament lines can best minimize friction. The elastic elements
that have been used for the passive extension movements are 2 mm round elastic bands.

4. Experimental Evaluation
The functionality of the proposed design is evaluated through simulations and exper-
iments. The robotic hand design is modeled in the Simscape/Simulink environment to
assess the finger postures and study the relationship between the cable length reduction
and the joint angles through a finger, which is discussed in Section 3.2.3. Moreover, a simu-
lation is conducted in Adams software to study the differential mechanism functionality
and approximately determine the position of cables tie points, as was explained in the
previous section.
A 3D printed prototype of the robotic hand is fabricated. The designed mechanism is
actuated using a RX-28 Dynamixel motor (Robotis Inc., CA, USA). Power and precision
grasps are common and repetitive grasp postures among ADL. Figure 13 shows these types
of grasps, performed by the robotic hand prototype.

Figure 13. Examples of different grasps performed by the robotic hand prototype, (a,b) power grasps,
(c–f) precision grasps.

To evaluate the robotic hand functionality in performing adaptive grasps, the hand
prototype is actuated while one of the fingers is blocked through each experiment. Figure 14
shows the fingers posture in each test. As it can be seen, blocking one finger does not
restrict the movement of other fingers. Therefore, the robotic hand can perform adaptive
grasps and grasp objects with unknown geometries.
Robotics 2021, 10, 109 14 of 15

Figure 14. Differential mechanism functionality for providing adaptive grasps, (top row) the posture of fingers while each
finger is blocked, (bottom row) the state of power transmission system for the corresponding movement of fingers.

5. Conclusions
In this paper, a novel design of a robotic hand is presented. With the proposed design,
one actuator (Dynamixel RX-28) is used to perform adaptive grasps, while extension
movements are implemented passively using elastic elements. This cable-driven robotic
hand can grasp a wide range of objects with unknown geometries using a novel power
transmission mechanism. A 3D-printed prototype is used to verify the final design, where
experimental evaluations reveal the proposed design meets the design requirements and
can perform a wide range of power and precision grasps.
As for the shortcomings of the current design, since the abduction/adduction move-
ment of the thumb is not modeled, the proposed robotic hand is not able to perform lateral
grasps. Furthermore, an open loop actuation is considered for experimental validations at
this point. Therefore, grasping soft and deformable objects are not studied in this set of
experiments due to the lack of tactile feedback. The future work will be mainly focused on
developing a more compact actuation setup and providing further quantification of the
robotic hand’s performance.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, N.N. and A.L.; Methodology, N.N.; Project adminis-
tration, A.L.; Resources, A.L.; Supervision, A.L.; Validation, N.N.; Writing—original draft, N.N.;
Writing—review & editing, A.L. Both authors have read and agreed to the published version of
the manuscript.
Funding: This research was funded by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. 1718801.
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.
Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank Antonio Bicchi for providing the CAD files of
the Pisa/IIT SoftHand, as well as constant feedback during the design process.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design
of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript,
or in the decision to publish the results.
Robotics 2021, 10, 109 15 of 15

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