Adaptive and Reconfigurable Robotic Gripper Hands with a Meso-Scale Gripping Range
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Adaptive and Reconfigurable Robotic Gripper Hands with a Meso-Scale Gripping Range Guochao Bai Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Heriot-Watt University School of Engineering and Physical Sciences March 2018 The copyright in this thesis is owned by the author. Any quotation from the thesis or use of any of the information contained in it must acknowledge this thesis as the source of the quotation or information. ABSTRACT Grippers and robotic hands are essential and important end-effectors of robotic manipulators. Developing a gripper hand that can grasp a large variety of objects precisely and stably is still an aspiration even though research in this area has been carried out for several decades. This thesis provides a development approach and a series of gripper hands which can bridge the gap between micro-gripper and macro-gripper by extending the gripping range to the mesoscopic scale (meso-scale). Reconfigurable topology and variable mobility of the design offer versatility and adaptability for the changing environment and demands. By investigating human grasping behaviours and the unique structures of human hand, a CFB-based finger joint for anthropomorphic finger is developed to mimic a human finger with a large grasping range. The centrodes of CFB mechanism are explored and a contact-aided CFB mechanism is developed to increase stiffness of finger joints. An integrated gripper structure comprising cross four-bar (CFB) and remote-centre-of-motion (RCM) mechanisms is developed to mimic key functionalities of human hand. Kinematics and kinetostatic analyses of the CFB mechanism for multi- mode gripping are conducted to achieve passive-adjusting motion. A novel RCM-based finger with angular, parallel and underactuated motion is invented. Kinematics and stable gripping analyses of the RCM-based multi-motion finger are also investigated. The integrated design with CFB and RCM mechanisms provides a novel concept of a multi-mode gripper that aims to tackle the challenge of changing over for various sizes of objects gripping in mesoscopic scale range. Based on the novel designed mechanisms and design philosophy, a class of gripper hands in terms of adaptive meso-grippers, power-precision grippers and reconfigurable hands are developed. The novel features of the gripper hands are one degree of freedom (DoF), self-adaptive, reconfigurable and multi-mode. Prototypes are manufactured by 3D printing and the grasping abilities are tested to verify the design approach. 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I must thank my first supervisor, Dr. Xianwen Kong, for his support, encourage and guidance in each stage of my PhD work. The completion of the work and contribution during my PhD period is due to his inspiration and his constructive suggestions. I thank Dr. Kong for providing me many opportunities to broad my minds by participating international conferences, for kindly discussing with me no matter when I knocked his office door and how busy he was. The influence and inspiration of Dr. Kong – at the beginning of topic selection, through his multi-mode idea – can be seen throughout the thesis and the final prototyping and testing. The PhD study, research and teaching at Heriot-Watt and supervision from Dr Kong provided me an opportunity to understand the differences between the West and the East in education, culture and research. These will be my greatest treasure and lifelong fantastic memory. Equally thanks for my second supervisor Prof. James Ritchie, Dean of the University. He has introduced me to manufacturing and automotive assembly areas. He has always shared me with most valuable knowledge and helpful ideas after our meetings. I am grateful to his patience, precious time and tolerance for my errors in paper writing. I have learned a lot from his precious comments and revision. I also express my thankfulness to Prof. Jian S Dai, my former supervisor from King’s College London and Prof Will Shu, University of Strathclyde. I am grateful for receiving their selfless help and encouragement no matter when I need help. For serving as colleagues, supporters and (sometimes) critics, I thank Dr. Ross Walker, Jieyu Wang, Nguyen Hao Le, Artem Lukianov, Dr. Peter Szabo, Tariq Chaudhary, Muhammad Farooq, etc. I deeply thank my parents, my older brother Guoqiang Bai and my sister in law Na Zhi. Thanks for your understanding, patience and support. I am grateful to my brother and sister in law for their taking care of our parents and leaving me enough time for my career development. Especially thank my wife, Lina Ti. With your love, accompanying, support and encouragement, I can put myself out there, taking my full energy to my research work. My mother in law also deserves special mention for her understanding and support for me and my wife. In addition, I would also like to thank international Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) from EPSRC for the financial support to my tuition fee and maintenance and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), United Kingdom, for the financial support to my PhD research under Grant No. EP/K018345/1. 2 ACADEMIC REGISTRY Research Thesis Submission Name: Guochao Bai School: School of Engineering and Physical Sciences Version: (i.e. First, Final Degree Sought: PhD in Mechanical Engineering Resubmission, Final) Declaration In accordance with the appropriate regulations I hereby submit my thesis and I declare that: 1) the thesis embodies the results of my own work and has been composed by myself 2) where appropriate, I have made acknowledgement of the work of others and have made reference to work carried out in collaboration with other persons 3) the thesis is the correct version of the thesis for submission and is the same version as any electronic versions submitted*. 4) my thesis for the award referred to, deposited in the Heriot-Watt University Library, should be made available for loan or photocopying and be available via the Institutional Repository, subject to such conditions as the Librarian may require 5) I understand that as a student of the University I am required to abide by the Regulations of the University and to conform to its discipline. 6) I confirm that the thesis has been verified against plagiarism via an approved plagiarism detection application e.g. Turnitin. * Please note that it is the responsibility of the candidate to ensure that the correct version of the thesis is submitted. Signature of Date: 08/03/2018 Candidate: Submission Submitted By (name in capitals): Signature of Individual Submitting: Date Submitted: For Completion in the Student Service Centre (SSC) Received in the SSC by (name in capitals): Method of Submission (Handed in to SSC; posted through internal/external mail): E-thesis Submitted (mandatory for final theses) Signature: Date: 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ 2 ACADEMIC REGISTRY .............................................................................................. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER 1 – Introduction .......................................................................................... 7 1.1 Background ........................................................................................................ 7 1.2 State-of-Art Robotic Hands and Applications .................................................... 9 1.2.1 Robotic Grippers for Industry ........................................................................... 9 1.2.2 Robotic Hands for Fragile Grasping ............................................................... 10 1.2.3 Robotic Hands for Dexterity Research ............................................................ 11 1.2.4 Prosthetic Hand ............................................................................................... 12 1.2.5 Underactuated Adaptive Hand ........................................................................ 13 1.2.6 Micro-Nano Gripper ........................................................................................ 14 1.3 Project Motivation ............................................................................................ 15 1.3.1 Motivation Scenario ...................................................................................... 15 1.3.2 Key Challenges and Unmet Needs ............................................................... 16 1.4 Development of Robotic Gripper ..................................................................... 17 1.4.1 Classifications of Gripping Configurations and Gripped Objects ................ 17 1.4.2 Definition of Meso-Scale for Artificial Gripping ......................................... 19 1.4.3 Design Process of Gripper Hand .................................................................. 20 1.5 Objectives ......................................................................................................... 23 1.6 Thesis Outline ................................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 2 – CFB-Based Anthropomorphic Finger .............................................. 25 2.1 Natural Gripping Systems and Evolution ......................................................... 26 2.1.1 Classification of Bio-grippers ......................................................................