Optimal design of driving mechanism in a 1-DOF anthropomorphic finger

Mechanisms can be used in finger design to obtain suitable actuation systems and to give stiff robust behavior in grasping. The design of driving mechanisms for fingers has been carried out at LARM in Cassino with the aim to obtain one degree of freedom actuation for an anthropomorphic finger. The dimensional design of a finger driving mechanism has been formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem by using evaluation criteria for fundamental characteristics that are associated with finger motion, grasping equilibrium, and force transmission. The feasibility of the herein proposed optimum design procedure for a finger driving mechanism has been tested by numerical examples that have been also used to enhance a built prototype of a three-fingered hand.