%0 Journal Article %J IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters %D 2020 %T Exploring the Role of Palm Concavity and Adaptability in Soft Synergistic Robotic Hands %A Capsi-Morales, Patricia %A G. Grioli %A C. Piazza %A A. Bicchi %A M. G. Catalano %K Ellipsoids %K Grasping %K Indexes %K Kinematics %K Robots %K Shape %K Thumb %X

Robotic hand engineers usually focus on finger capabilities, often disregarding the palm contribution. Inspired by human anatomy, this paper explores the advantages of including a flexible concave palm into the design of a robotic hand actuated by soft synergies. We analyse how the inclusion of an articulated palm improves finger workspace and manipulability. We propose a mechanical design of a modular palm with two elastic rolling-contact palmar joints, that can be integrated on the Pisa/IIT SoftHand, without introducing additional motors. With this prototype, we evaluate experimentally the grasping capabilities of a robotic palm. We compare its performance to that of the same robotic hand with the palm fixed, and to that of a human hand. To assess the effective grasp quality achieved by the three systems, we measure the contact area using paint-transfer patterns in different grasping actions. Preliminary grasping experiments show a closer resemblance of the soft-palm robotic hand to the human hand. Results evidence a higher adaptive capability and a larger involvement of all fingers in grasping.

%B IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters %V 5 %P 4703 - 4710 %8 17 June 2020 %G eng %U https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9119822?source=authoralert %N 3 %& 4703 %R 10.1109/LRA.2020.3003257