◎ Science and Technology Daily reporter Zhang Mengran
When you want strength, you can pinch the can, when you want to be fine, you can pick up small tweezers, and what has such "boyfriend power" is actually a mechanical hand. According to a study published in the British journal Nature Communications on the 14th, a team of Korean scientists reported a manipulator that integrates responsive motion, sensing and all the components required for high flexibility. This manipulator can be mounted on existing commercial robotic arms and perform a wide variety of tasks, from grasping eggs to using scissors and forceps.
Of the total 206 bones in the human body, 54 are on the hands, equivalent to a quarter of the total number of bones, and the muscle structure of the hands that drive these bones is extremely complex. Because of this, the movement of the human hand seems ordinary, but it involves a fairly high level of dexterity, from the grasping of delicate objects to the operation of complex tools, human hands can perform a variety of tasks. Explaining the extremely complex functions of human hands has so far been an unresolved challenge.
The robot's hand has a similar function to the human hand, so it can also have a high degree of flexibility when performing tasks. In practical applications, the manipulator has the potential to perform tasks with a wide span of time. However, developing a robotic hand that moves without additional drive parts and maintains a high degree of flexibility or the ability to grasp with the right force is a huge challenge.
ILDA overview diagram.
This flexible manipulator, developed by a team of scientists from Asia University in South Korea, is called "ILDA" (flexible anthropomorphism driven by integrated connections). The hand consists of 20 joints, allows 15 degrees of free movement, fingertip force of 34 Newtons, a total weight of less than 1.1 kg, a small size (218 mm), and tactile sensing capabilities.
The researchers say that all the components of the "ILDA" are integrated into the hand, which means that it can be attached to an existing robotic arm without additional components such as the forearm. A series of experiments have shown that this hand can pick up objects of various shapes, grasp the can squashed by force, or grasp an egg finely. This hand can also cut paper with scissors and pick up small objects with tweezers.
Mechanical finger movement structure.
Gently picking up an egg, neither over-squeezing it, nor throwing it to the ground with too much force, is an innate skill for humans, but a big challenge for robots. "ILDA" successfully did this, indicating that the manipulator has made great progress in haptic sensing, feedback mechanism, fine operation and so on.
Editor-in-chief dots
We often say that machines are "clumsy" because robot hands can't do too fine work. You can program them and let them write and draw, but they can grasp and control the power, and they still don't have the ignition. The human hand is an exquisite tool because it has a complex structure. From the arms to the elbows to the palms to the fingers, bones, muscles, tendons, interconnected, cooperative with each other. It's too hard to get all of this to the machine – it can't be too big, there are enough sensors, and the structure must be flexible enough... Having a tiger in your heart and sniffing the roses is easy to say, and letting the machine do it is a big test for human beings. Now, however, it appears that humanity has accomplished another challenge.
Source: Science and Technology Daily The videos and pictures in the article are from Nature Communications.
Editor: Wang Yu
Review: Yue Liang
Final Judge: Liu Haiying