A modular, open-source 3D printed underactuated hand

Abstract

Commercially available robotic hands are often expensive, customized for specific platforms, and difficult to modify. In this paper, we present the design of an open-source, low-cost, single actuator underactuated hand that can be created through fast and commonly-accessible rapid-prototyping techniques and simple, off-the-shelf components. This project establishes the design of an adaptive, four-finger hand utilizing simple 3D-printed components, compliant flexure joints, and readily obtainable off-the-shelf parts. Modular and adjustable finger designs are provided, giving the user a range of options depending on the intended use of the hand. The design tradeoffs and decisions made to achieve the 3D-printable, compact and lightweight robotic gripper are discussed, as well as a preliminary discussion of the performance differences between the finger designs. The authors intend this work to be the first in a series of open-source designs to be released, and through the contributions of the open-source user community, result in a large number of design modifications and variations available to researchers.