Smarthand - Towards a Robust Robot Hand with Increased In-hand Manipulation Workspace

Abstract

The robustness of robotic hands is crucial for hand manipulation in real-world scenarios, as it ensures resilience to uncertainties and disturbances. Robotic hands with intrinsic compliance offer the advantage of optimized contact robustness and reduced reflected inertia, which significantly improves the cycle time for delicate objects. This paper presents Smarthand, a robust, compliant hand with a high force-to-weight ratio based on the DLR CLASH (three fingers) but with optimized kinematics for in-hand manipulation. The modular design allows for different hardware configurations, but also improves maintenance and calibration. The first tests on a two finger and three finger testbed showed new manipulation capabilities in compare to DLR Hand II, with significantly increased robustness and lower system costs