Malte Ahlers from Germany lucked into some FESTO hardware, and used it to build a robotic gripper (site is in German):
I was intrigued by the FESTO FinGripper mechanism which they use for their “Bionic Handling Assistant” so I asked the guys from FESTO if they would give me three samples of the FinGripper fingers — I was lucky, they did :-). These FinGripper fingers are interesting because of their bionic “Fin Ray Effect” which is inspired by the tail fin of teleost fishes. I developed a simple mechanism for actuation of the FinGripper fingers. The result is a very simple, robust, flexible and adaptive robotic gripper which works well with many different kinds of objects. I also did some experiments on force feedback from the gripper. I chose a very simple approach and continuously measure the current of the actuating motor. The current is of course depending on the “mechanical resistance”!
12 thoughts on “Adaptive Gripping Mechanism”
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I would love to see someone add a flex sensor the the fingers so an accurate pressure can be measured/controlled.
Depending on the gearing, you might be able to get it just from the current sink of the motor, without a direct flex sensor. Of course, if you’re looking for a very sensitive response, that might not be ideal…
Measuring the motor surrent sink ist exactly what I do to get a “qualitative” measure of the gripping force. It works quite well, as you can see here: http://youtu.be/UHhlX49JooA
what is the meterial of the mechanical hands??
The FESTO fingers are made of polyamide. They were fabricated by selective laser sintering. The parts I constructed, i.e. everthing except the fingers are made of PVC. The base plate is of aluminum.
The FESTO fingers are made of polyamide. They were fabricated by selective laser sintering. The parts I constructed, i.e. everthing except the fingers are made of PVC. The base plate is of aluminum.