New Soft Robot Hand Configuration With Combined Biotensegrity and Thin Artificial Muscle

This letter proposes a particular tensegrity topology for a humanoid hand in which the motion of the hand is actuated using thin McKibben artificial muscles. The specific actuation pattern for this tensegrity hand with multiple degrees of freedom, which includes the location of the artificial muscles, is presented. A novel design of the joints that are used to connect tensegrity prisms is proposed and the actuation method is demonstrated. The humanoid tensegrity hand is able to absorb impact from different directions. Under stress, the tensegrity hand is capable of compressing to 26% of its size in the horizontal direction before failure and about 30% of its finger thickness without destroying its structure. After resisting compression and tension force, the tensegrity hand returns to its original shape and works normally. Static and dynamic experiments were conducted to validate the gripping motion and holding performance. The implementation of the tensegrity hand shows that this specific topology design can be utilized to develop soft robotic hands.