Underactuated, compliant, tendon-driven robotic hands are suited for deep-sea exploration. The robust Ocean One hand design utilizes elastic finger joints and a spring transmission to achieve a variety of pinch and wrap grasps. Compliance in the fingers and transmission determines the degree of load-sharing among contacts and the hands’ ability to secure irregularly shaped objects. However, it can also decrease external grasp stiffness and acquisition reliability. SimGrasp, a flexible dynamic hand simulator, enables parametric studies of the hand for acquisition and pull-out tests with varying transmission spring rates. In the present application, we take advantage of achieving different stiffnesses by reversing the direction of tendon windup using a torsional spring-loaded winch. With this provision, the hand can be relatively soft for handling delicate objects and stiff for tasks requiring strength. Two hands were field-tested as part of the Ocean One humanoid platform, which acquired a vase from the La Lune shipwreck site at a 91 m depth in the Mediterranean Sea.
AukesDMCutkoskyMR (2013) Simulation-based tools for evaluating underactuated hand designs. In: 2013 IEEE international conference on robotics and automation (ICRA), Karlsruhe, Germany, 6–10 May 2013, pp.2067–2073. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
2.
AukesDMHeynemanBUlmenJ. (2014) Design and testing of a selectively compliant underactuated hand. The International Journal of Robotics Research33(5): 721–735.
3.
BalasubramanianRBelterJTDollarAM (2012) Disturbance response of two-link underactuated serial-link chains. Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics4(2): 021013.
4.
BarilMLalibertéTGosselinC. (2013) On the design of a mechanically programmable underactuated anthropomorphic prosthetic gripper. ASME Journal of Mechanical Design135(12): 121008.
5.
BelterJTSegilJL (2013) Mechanical design and performance specifications of anthropomorphic prosthetic hands: A review. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development50(5): 599–618.
6.
BemficaJRMelchiorriCMorielloL. (2014) A three-fingered cable-driven gripper for underwater applications. In: 2014 IEEE international conference on robotics and automation (ICRA), Hong Kong, China, 31 May–7 June 2014, pp.2469–2474. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
CalliBWalsmanASinghA. (2015) Benchmarking in manipulation research: Using the Yale-CMU-Berkeley object and model set. IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine22(3): 36–52.
9.
CarrozzaMCSuppoCSebastianiF. (2004) The SPRING hand: Development of a self-adaptive prosthesis for restoring natural grasping. Autonomous Robots16(2): 125–141.
10.
CatalanoMGGrioliGFarnioliE. (2014) Adaptive synergies for the design and control of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand. The International Journal of Robotics Research33(5): 768–782.
11.
ChuJuJungDLeeY (2008) Design and control of a multifunction myoelectric hand with new adaptive grasping and self-locking mechanisms. In: 2008 IEEE international conference on robotics and automation, Pasadena, USA, 19–23 May 2008, pp.743–748. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
12.
CianchettiMArientiAFolladorM. (2011) Design concept and validation of a robotic arm inspired by the octopus. Materials Science and Engineering C31(6): 1230–1239.
13.
CiocarlieMHicksFMHolmbergR. (2014) The Velo gripper: A versatile single-actuator design for enveloping, parallel and fingertip grasps. The International Journal of Robotics Research33(5): 753–767.
14.
CutkoskyM (1989) On grasp choice, grasp models, and the design of hands for manufacturing tasks. IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation5(3): 269–279.
DollarAMHoweRD (2010) The highly adaptive SDM hand: Design and performance evaluation. The International Journal of Robotics Research29(5): 585–597.
17.
DollarAMHoweRD (2011) Joint coupling design of underactuated hands for unstructured environments. The International Journal of Robotics Research30(9): 1157–1169.
18.
DollarAMBicchiACutkoskyMR. (2014) Special issue on the mechanics and design of robotic hands. The International Journal of Robotics Research33(5): 675–676.
19.
Edsinger-GonzalesAWeberJ (2004) Domo: A force sensing humanoid robot for manipulation research. In: 2004 4th IEEE/RAS international conference on humanoid robots, Santa Monica, USA, 10–12 November 2004, pp.273–291. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
20.
FeixTRomeroJSchmiedmayerHB. (2016) The grasp taxonomy of human grasp types. IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems46(1): 66–77.
21.
GabicciniMBicchiAPrattichizzoD. (2011) On the role of hand synergies in the optimal choice of grasping forces. Autonomous Robots31(2–3): 235–252.
22.
GallowayKCBeckerKPPhillipsB. (2016) Soft robotic grippers for biological sampling on deep reefs. Soft Robotics3(1): 23–33.
23.
HammondFLWeiszJde la Llera KurthAA. (2012) Towards a design optimization method for reducing the mechanical complexity of underactuated robotic hands. In: 2012 IEEE international conference on robotics and automation, Minnesota, USA, 14–18 May 2012, pp.2843–2850. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
24.
HauserK (2016) Robust Contact Generation for Robot Simulation with Unstructured Meshes. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, pp.357–373.
25.
HebertPBajracharyaMMaJ. (2015) Mobile manipulation and mobility as manipulation-design and algorithms of RoboSimian. Journal of Field Robotics32(2): 255–274.
26.
HuJEdsingerALimYJ. (2011) An advanced medical robotic system augmenting healthcare capabilities – Robotic nursing assistant. In: 2011 IEEE international conference on robotics and automation (ICRA), Shanghei, China, 9–13 May 2011, pp.6264–6269. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
27.
JohnsonMShrewsburyBBertrandS. (2015) Team IHMC’s lessons learned from the DARPA robotics challenge trials. Journal of Field Robotics32(2): 192–208.
28.
KarumanchiSEdelbergKBaldwinI. (2016) Team RoboSimian: Semi-autonomous mobile manipulation at the 2015 DARPA robotics challenge finals. Journal of Field Robotics: Special Issue on the 2015 DRC Finals00(00): 1–28.
29.
KhatibOYehXBrantnerG. (2016) Ocean One: An avatar extending human reach. IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine23(4): 20–29.
30.
KongKBaeJMemberS. (2012) A compact rotary series elastic actuator for human assistive systems. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics17(2): 288–297.
31.
KragtenGAHerderJL (2010) The ability of underactuated hands to grasp and hold objects. Mechanism and Machine Theory45(3): 408–425.
32.
LalibertéTGosselinCM (1998) Simulation and design of underactuated mechanical hands. Mechanism and Machine Theory33(1–2): 39–57.
33.
LalibertéTGosselinCM (2001) Underactuation in space robotic hands. In: Proceedings of the 6th international symposium on artificial intelligence and robotics & automation in space: i-SAIRAS, Montréal, Canada, 18–22 June 2001, pp.1–8. Québec: Canadian Space Agency.
34.
LaneDDaviesJRobinsonG. (1999) The AMADEUS dextrous subsea hand: Design, modeling, and sensor processing. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering24(1): 96–111.
35.
MaRRBelterJTDollarAM (2015) Hybrid deposition manufacturing: Design strategies for multimaterial mechanisms via three-dimensional printing and material deposition. Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics7(2): 021002.
36.
MassaBRoccellaSCarrozzaM. (2002) Design and development of an underactuated prosthetic hand. In: Proceedings of the 2002 IEEE international conference on robotics and automation, Washington, DC, 11–15 May 2002, pp.3374–3379. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
37.
MillerATAllenPK (2004) Graspit! A versatile simulator for robotic grasping. IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine11(4): 110–122.
38.
PonsJCeresRPfeifferF (1999) Multifingered dextrous robotics hand design and control: A review. Robotica17(06): 661–674.
39.
PringleA (1919) Artificial hand. Patent US1324564 A, USA.
40.
RahmanSMM (2012) A novel variable impedance compact compliant series elastic actuator for human-friendly soft robotics applications. In: 2012 IEEE RO-MAN: The 21st IEEE international symposium on robot and human interactive communication, Paris, France, 9–12 September 2012, pp.19–24. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
41.
StuartHSBagheriMWangS. (2015) Suction helps in a pinch: Improving underwater manipulation with gentle suction flow. In: 2015 IEEE/RSJ international conference on intelligent robots and systems (IROS), Hamburg, Germany, 28 September–2 October 2015, pp.2279–2284. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
42.
StuartHSWangSGardineerB. (2014) A compliant underactuated hand with suction flow for underwater mobile manipulation. In: 2014 IEEE international conference on robotics and automation (ICRA), Hong Kong, China, 31 May–7 June 2014, pp.6691–6697. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
43.
TelegenovKTlegenovYShintemirovA (2014) An underactuated adaptive 3D printed robotic gripper. In: 2014 10th France-Japan/8th Europe-Asia congress on Mecatronics (MECATRONICS), Tokyo, Japan, 27–30 November 2014, pp.110–115. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
