Mechatronic design of innovative fingers for anthropomorphic robot hands

In this paper, a novel design approach for the development of robot hands is presented. This approach, that can be considered alternative to the "classical" one, takes into consideration compliant structures instead of rigid ones. Compliance effects, which were considered in the past as a "defect" to be mechanically eliminated, can be viceversa regarded as desired features and can be properly controlled in order to achieve desired properties from the robotic device. In particular, this is true for robot hands, where the mechanical complexity of "classical" design solutions has always originated complicated structures, often with low reliability and high costs. In this paper, an alternative solution to the design of dexterous robot hand is illustrated, considering a "mechatronic approach" for the integration of the mechanical structure, the sensory and electronic system, the control and the actuation part. Moreover, the preliminary experimental activity on a first prototype is reported and discussed. The results obtained so far, considering also reliability, costs and development time, are very encouraging, and allows to foresee a wider diffusion of dextrous hands for robotic applications.