Underactuated Robotic Hands

Lionel Birglen, Thierry Laliberté, Clément Gosselin (auth.)9783540774587, 3540774580

Grasping and manipulation skills are at the core of the development of modern robotic systems. With the introduction of robotics in new applications involving unstructured environments (e.g. space, undersea, surgery), intelligent manipulation and grasping has become a crucial research area. The authors have developed an internationally recognized expertise in this area. Additionally, they designed and built several prototypes which attracted the attention of the scientific community. Their work was reported in several publications which appeared in the most renowned journals and conferences.

The purpose of this book is to summarize years of research and to present, in an attractive format, the expertise developed by the authors on a new technology for grasping—namely underactuation—which has achieved great success both in theory and in practice. This book is not intended to be used as a textbook but could be used as a reference at the post-graduate level.

Table of contents :
Front Matter….Pages –
Introduction….Pages 1-5
Grasping vs. Manipulating….Pages 7-31
Kinetostatic Analysis of Robotic Fingers….Pages 33-60
Grasp Stability of Underactuated Fingers….Pages 61-115
Optimal Design of Underactuated Fingers….Pages 117-138
Underactuation between the Fingers….Pages 139-169
Design and Control of the Laval Underactuated Hands….Pages 171-207
Conclusion….Pages 209-213
Back Matter….Pages –