Application of sliding actuation mechanism to robot finger

Abstract

In this paper, we newly devise a sliding actuation mechanism utilizing linear sliding actuators for robot finger. By the application to a finger-type manipulator with 4 links - 3 joints, it is shown that the sliding actuation mechanism does allow further enhancement of fingertip force. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed actuation mechanism, we develop a finger-type manipulator using six tiny ultrasonic motors and perform experiments.