Design and control of the BUAA four-fingered hand

This research presents a multi-fingered hand and computer control system intended for research in dextrous manipulation. The hand mechanism is based on an anthropomorphic configuration with four identical fingers. Each finger has four degrees of freedom actuated by four DC servomotors. The fingers, palm and mechanical interface to a robotic arm are separate components of a modular design allowing the hand to be highly dexterous and flexible. Each finger is a compact module with eight position sensors, and all the four actuators are integrated into the mechanical structure of the finger module. Position control has been implemented using a DSP based computer controller. Experimental results validate that the basic functionality and requirements of the hand system were achieved.