Benchmarking a Robot Hand’s Ability to Translate Objects Using Two Fingers

Abstract

This letter presents a novel benchmark called the Asterisk Test that characterizes a hand’s ability to translate an object on a table in eight linear directions using only two fingers. The benchmark is agnostic to the controller, object, and robot hand used. The benchmark also enables a measure of the symmetry (about the plane’s principal axes) of the hand’s ability to maneuver objects. The Asterisk Test’s utility is demonstrated on two common robot hand designs: a parallel jaw gripper and a two-linked, two fingered gripper. The method to analyze the performance data in order to evaluate the hand is also provided. We conclude with a comparison of this benchmark to previous dexterity measures, such as manipulability. We also discuss how improved performance in this benchmark is indicative of simpler hand control.