Development of a robot hand with an adjuster mechanism for joint compliance

In this paper, we present a simple mechanism for adjusting joint compliance. In this mechanism, an elastic plate, which we refer to as a Compliance Adjuster Plate (CAP), is used effectively not only to absorb but also to endure external force according to the requirements for various tasks. The adjustment of joint compliance can be realized by controlling the posture of the CAP according to the position of the links connecting the joints. We develop a prototype robot hand, which consists of two joints, by introducing the proposed mechanism. We examine the fundamental characteristics and performance of this mechanism by comparing the results of theoretical analyses and several experiments.