Development of a Five-Fingered Hand with Flexible Skin including Nerve Lines for Tool Use

Abstract

In this study, we focused on the action of inserting and bending a finger into a tool when using a tool with a robot hand, and predicted that control using a human body mimetic skeleton with thin fingers and tactile sensation of the entire finger circumference would be important to realize this action. Therefore, we developed a new robotic hand with a sensor that combines epidermis and nerve line made by a 3D printer. The nerve line can detect the point of contact with high responsiveness, and we have realized the grasping and manipulation of scissors, drawer operation, and pen picking up tasks using control based on contact information.