BRL/Pisa/IIT SoftHand: A Low-cost, 3D-Printed, Underactuated, Tendon-Driven Hand with Soft and Adaptive Synergies

Haoran Li; Christopher J. Ford; Matteo Bianchi; Manuel G. Catalano; Efi Psomopoulou; Nathan F. Lepora

doi:10.1109/LRA.2022.3187876

BRL/Pisa/IIT SoftHand: A Low-cost, 3D-Printed, Underactuated, Tendon-Driven Hand with Soft and Adaptive Synergies

Haoran Li
, Christopher J. Ford
, Matteo Bianchi
, Manuel G. Catalano
, Efi Psomopoulou
, Nathan F. Lepora

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

44 Citations (Scopus)

496 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This paper introduces the BRL/Pisa/IIT (BPI) SoftHand: a single actuator-driven, low-cost, 3D-printed, tendon-driven, underactuated robot hand that can be used to perform a range of grasping tasks. Based on the adaptive synergies of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand, we design a new joint system and tendon routing to facilitate the inclusion of both soft and adaptive synergies, which helps us balance durability, affordability and grasping performance of the hand. The focus of this work is on the design, simulation, synergies and grasping tests of this SoftHand. The novel phalanges are designed and printed based on linkages, gear pairs and geometric restraint mechanisms, and can be applied to most tendon-driven robotic hands. We show that the robot hand can successfully grasp and lift various target objects and adapt to hold complex geometric shapes, reflecting the successful adoption of the soft and adaptive synergies. We intend to open-source the design of the hand so that it can be built cheaply on a home 3D-printer. For more detail: https://sites.google.com/view/bpi-softhandtactile-group-bri/brlpisaiit-softhand-design

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	8745 - 8751
Number of pages	7
Journal	IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Volume	7
Issue number	4
Early online date	1 Jul 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2022.3187876
Publication status	Published - 1 Oct 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The work of Nathan F. Lepora and Efi Psomopoulou was supported by the Leadership Award from the Leverhulme Trust on A biomimetic forebrain for robot touch' under Grant RL-2016-39. The work of Matteo Bianchi was supported by the EU's H2020 Programme under grant agreements SOPHIA (871237), ERC Synergy Grant Natural BionicS (810346) and ReconCycle (871352).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 IEEE.

Keywords

cs.RO

Access to Document

10.1109/LRA.2022.3187876

Full-text PDF (author accepted manuscript)
This is the accepted author manuscript (AAM). The final published version (version of record) is available online via Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers at https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9813397 . Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.
Accepted author manuscript, 1.91 MBLicence: Unspecified

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44 Citations
1 Article (Academic Journal)

Tactile SoftHand-A: 3D-Printed, Tactile, Highly-underactuated, Anthropomorphic Robot Hand with an Antagonistic Tendon Mechanism
Li, H., Ford, C. J., Lu, C., Lin, Y., Bianchi, M., Catalano, M. G., Psomopoulou, E. & Lepora, N. F., 8 Oct 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: International Journal of Robotics Research. 28 p., 02783649251379516.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

Open Access
7 Citations (Scopus)

1 Finished

A biomimetic forebrain for robot touch
Lepora, N. F. (Principal Investigator)
1/04/17 → 30/06/24
Project: Research

Cite this

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title = "BRL/Pisa/IIT SoftHand: A Low-cost, 3D-Printed, Underactuated, Tendon-Driven Hand with Soft and Adaptive Synergies",

abstract = "This paper introduces the BRL/Pisa/IIT (BPI) SoftHand: a single actuator-driven, low-cost, 3D-printed, tendon-driven, underactuated robot hand that can be used to perform a range of grasping tasks. Based on the adaptive synergies of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand, we design a new joint system and tendon routing to facilitate the inclusion of both soft and adaptive synergies, which helps us balance durability, affordability and grasping performance of the hand. The focus of this work is on the design, simulation, synergies and grasping tests of this SoftHand. The novel phalanges are designed and printed based on linkages, gear pairs and geometric restraint mechanisms, and can be applied to most tendon-driven robotic hands. We show that the robot hand can successfully grasp and lift various target objects and adapt to hold complex geometric shapes, reflecting the successful adoption of the soft and adaptive synergies. We intend to open-source the design of the hand so that it can be built cheaply on a home 3D-printer. For more detail: https://sites.google.com/view/bpi-softhandtactile-group-bri/brlpisaiit-softhand-design",

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author = "Haoran Li and Ford, \{Christopher J.\} and Matteo Bianchi and Catalano, \{Manuel G.\} and Efi Psomopoulou and Lepora, \{Nathan F.\}",

note = "Funding Information: The work of Nathan F. Lepora and Efi Psomopoulou was supported by the Leadership Award from the Leverhulme Trust on A biomimetic forebrain for robot touch' under Grant RL-2016-39. The work of Matteo Bianchi was supported by the EU's H2020 Programme under grant agreements SOPHIA (871237), ERC Synergy Grant Natural BionicS (810346) and ReconCycle (871352). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 IEEE.",

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AU - Ford, Christopher J.

AU - Bianchi, Matteo

AU - Catalano, Manuel G.

AU - Psomopoulou, Efi

AU - Lepora, Nathan F.

N1 - Funding Information: The work of Nathan F. Lepora and Efi Psomopoulou was supported by the Leadership Award from the Leverhulme Trust on A biomimetic forebrain for robot touch' under Grant RL-2016-39. The work of Matteo Bianchi was supported by the EU's H2020 Programme under grant agreements SOPHIA (871237), ERC Synergy Grant Natural BionicS (810346) and ReconCycle (871352). Publisher Copyright: © 2016 IEEE.

PY - 2022/10/1

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N2 - This paper introduces the BRL/Pisa/IIT (BPI) SoftHand: a single actuator-driven, low-cost, 3D-printed, tendon-driven, underactuated robot hand that can be used to perform a range of grasping tasks. Based on the adaptive synergies of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand, we design a new joint system and tendon routing to facilitate the inclusion of both soft and adaptive synergies, which helps us balance durability, affordability and grasping performance of the hand. The focus of this work is on the design, simulation, synergies and grasping tests of this SoftHand. The novel phalanges are designed and printed based on linkages, gear pairs and geometric restraint mechanisms, and can be applied to most tendon-driven robotic hands. We show that the robot hand can successfully grasp and lift various target objects and adapt to hold complex geometric shapes, reflecting the successful adoption of the soft and adaptive synergies. We intend to open-source the design of the hand so that it can be built cheaply on a home 3D-printer. For more detail: https://sites.google.com/view/bpi-softhandtactile-group-bri/brlpisaiit-softhand-design

AB - This paper introduces the BRL/Pisa/IIT (BPI) SoftHand: a single actuator-driven, low-cost, 3D-printed, tendon-driven, underactuated robot hand that can be used to perform a range of grasping tasks. Based on the adaptive synergies of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand, we design a new joint system and tendon routing to facilitate the inclusion of both soft and adaptive synergies, which helps us balance durability, affordability and grasping performance of the hand. The focus of this work is on the design, simulation, synergies and grasping tests of this SoftHand. The novel phalanges are designed and printed based on linkages, gear pairs and geometric restraint mechanisms, and can be applied to most tendon-driven robotic hands. We show that the robot hand can successfully grasp and lift various target objects and adapt to hold complex geometric shapes, reflecting the successful adoption of the soft and adaptive synergies. We intend to open-source the design of the hand so that it can be built cheaply on a home 3D-printer. For more detail: https://sites.google.com/view/bpi-softhandtactile-group-bri/brlpisaiit-softhand-design

KW - cs.RO

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DO - 10.1109/LRA.2022.3187876

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ER -

BRL/Pisa/IIT SoftHand: A Low-cost, 3D-Printed, Underactuated, Tendon-Driven Hand with Soft and Adaptive Synergies

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Handle.net

Fingerprint

Research output

Tactile SoftHand-A: 3D-Printed, Tactile, Highly-underactuated, Anthropomorphic Robot Hand with an Antagonistic Tendon Mechanism

Projects

A biomimetic forebrain for robot touch

Cite this