Cutting Paper with Scissors and Catching Raw Eggs... Ajou University Develops Humanoid Robot Hand

[Asia Economy Reporter Jinju Han] A humanoid robotic hand capable of both strong grip strength and delicate tool manipulation has been developed.

Ajou University announced on the 16th that Professor Ui-gyeom Kim (Department of Mechanical Engineering) successfully developed an integrated humanoid robotic hand including all components such as tactile sensors and actuators. The research team stated that the newly developed robotic hand can manipulate most tools needed in daily life and allows human-level free movement.

The research results were published online on December 15 in the prestigious journal Nature Communications. The paper is titled “Integrated Linkage-Driven Dexterous Anthropomorphic Robotic Hand.” Professor Ui-gyeom Kim of Ajou University (Department of Mechanical Engineering) participated as the first and corresponding author, and Da-woon Jung, a doctoral student at Korea University, participated as a co-first author. The study was conducted in collaboration with the Robotics Mechatronics Laboratory at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM).

Professor Kim Euigyeom, Ajou University

The robotic hand developed this time can lift weights up to 18 kg and is capable of tasks such as ▲crushing a beer can ▲lifting heavy dumbbells ▲cutting paper with scissors ▲moving small chips with tweezers. The research team particularly achieved independent 3-degree-of-freedom (3-DOF) movement of the robotic hand’s fingers. The 3-DOF movement refers to two directional movements (front/back, left/right) at the innermost finger joint (metacarpophalangeal joint) and one directional movement (front/back) at the middle joint (proximal interphalangeal joint).

Professor Ui-gyeom Kim explained, “It is not an easy task to realize independent 3-DOF movement like human fingers within the narrow space of finger size. By developing a new linkage-based mechanism technology, we were able to solve this, which also made it easy to combine with existing commercial robotic arms.” He added, “The high-performance robotic hand developed this time can be used in various fields including robotic grippers and prosthetic hands. It can also be applied to robot control research, deep learning, and reinforcement learning studies, and we hope it will be widely utilized in various sectors of industry and society.”

This research was supported by Ajou University’s settlement research fund and the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials’ creative challenge project fund.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.