Professor Kim Euigyeom's Team at Ajou University Develops High-Performance Robotic Hand... Grasping Objects and Operating Tools

Implementation of Functionality to Grasp Various Objects

Professor Kim Euigyeom's team at Ajou University has developed a high-performance robotic hand capable of omnidirectional object manipulation.

According to Ajou University on the 24th, Professor Kim Euigyeom's team announced that they have developed a high-performance robot gripper capable of gripping and manipulating objects in various ways, as well as a tactile sensor capable of precise contact force measurement.

The research was published under the title "Multi-degree-of-freedom Industrial Robot Gripper Capable of Omnidirectional Object Manipulation" in the December issue. The gripper tactile sensor was featured in the October issue under the title "Fingertip Tactile Sensor Capable of Precise Contact Force Measurement."

In this research, Professor Kim Euigyeom of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Ajou University participated as the corresponding author, with students Lee Yooseong and Park Junghwa (integrated master's and doctoral program) as first authors. The joint corresponding authors of the two papers included Dr. Park Dongil from the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials and Professor Choi Jeongil from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Ajou University.

The robot gripper, a three-fingered robotic hand, had previously only been able to perform tasks such as gripping or releasing objects. This was because it had to be designed with limitations to ensure reliable controllability and robustness.

The Ajou University research team succeeded in implementing functions that allow the robotic hand to grip objects in various ways, such as parallel grip, precision grip, and enveloping grip, while maintaining such controllability and robustness. Furthermore, they developed a robotic hand capable of changing the orientation of objects within the hand or manipulating tools.

To achieve this, the research team developed a new link mechanism based on parallel and serial structures, securing higher degrees of freedom in actuation compared to previously developed mechanisms. They also secured high gripping force through robust drive systems and structural design.

Provided by Ajou University.

The Ajou University research team also developed a gripper fingertip sensor that can be attached to the robotic hand's fingertips. By utilizing this sensor, it is possible to monitor in real-time how objects are gripped and manipulated. This sensor is easy to integrate with robots and includes features such as high spatial resolution (below 0.1mm) and distributed load measurement capabilities.

These characteristics help the sensor accurately measure contact forces and assist the robot in delicate manipulation control. The research team applied a calibration algorithm to the sensor to secure high spatial resolution, enabling the development of this technology.

Professor Kim stated, "Humanoid robotic hands modeled after the human hand require special control methodologies, making them difficult to directly apply in industrial fields at present. The multi-degree-of-freedom gripper developed this time has a very wide range of operation and clear functionality, which holds significant meaning for pioneering new industries in robotics."

This research was conducted with support from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's Core Technology Development Project for the Robot Industry and the National Research Foundation of Korea's Excellent Young Researchers Program. Professor Kim Euigyeom's team plans to continue researching high-performance gripper technology and tactile sensor technology for robots.

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