Modelling, Simulation and Control of Robotic Hand using Virtual Prototyping Technology

Abstract

Hand is one of the most important body parts of a human being that exhibits extremely complex motional behaviors. So, accurate design of a prosthetic hand with precise motion has been a very challenging job for researchers over a few decades. Moreover, selection of materials, actuators, sensors, etc. becomes tedious which prior knowledge of the probable outcomes of a particular design. This paper presents an organized procedure to design and solve the kinematics, dynamics and trajectory control problem of a robotic hand. Denavit- Hartenberg method was used for the kinematic analyses and Lagrange-Euler formulation applied on basic rotational mechanics was used for the dynamic analyses of the robotic hand. To reduce difficulty, three degrees of freedom has been assigned to each finger. MATLAB codes were written to develop the mathematical model and carry out the theoretical calculations. The results so obtained were verified with the actual simulation results of the design which were obtained from ADAMS and hence validating the design. Finally, a PID controller was implemented using ADAMS-MATLAB CO-SIMULATATION technique, for controlling the hand, so as to achieve the desired motion. By the virtue of the results obtained the choice of materials, actuators, sensors, etc. becomes easier in case of the physical prototype which is the primal essence of virtual prototyping.