914 PC BOTS Community - Home: "Hands, grippers & manipulators
Tuesday, 01 November 2005
Hi, James here and my first 'news' post. I thought I'd revisit robot grippers as I know it came up in the forums a while ago. Hopefully we can start a good discussion thread...

There are various robot hands available on the market that I know of. Firstly the Shadow Dexterous Hand. This is a highly featured product aimed at research institutes and costing over EUR 100,000. It is also powered by compressed air.

Then there's the University of Southampton's Remedi-Hand. This is a lighter electrically powered product aimed at prosthesis. It's a much simpler hand while retaining it's opposable thumb so it can pick up a can of beer (or healthy beans).



There are also various cheaper off the shelf products available. This hand is a future product from Android World. It uses R/C hobby style servos to drive it and each joint is independent.









But does a domestic/office robot even need something this complex?. I remember having one of these toy robot hands as a child, there is also a two fingered 'robot gripper' version available. Would this suffice for a 914 Bot for everyday use?.

And what sort of arm should it be attached to, a fixed 'stick arm', or something a but more flexible like a typical 'industrial robot arm'?. Where would the arm be attached, to the side(s), or on top with a telescopic lifter to reach cupboards or the fridge?

Would you use the arm on a PC Bot for teleoperation?. Having it independently navigate and recognise objects would be a little more tricky but isn't beyond the realms of reality.

What other attachments could the arm have... electric "