Principle and mechanical analysis of a pneumatic underactuated bionic hand

Based on the underactuated theory, a pneumatic underactuated bionic hand with five fingers is designed. Every finger of the hand is driven by a group of micro cylinders in parallel. The knuckle angle is totally decided by the shape of the grasped object. The expressions of the grab forces are stated after the static and kinematic calculations. The grasp patterns derived from force analysis show the grasp stability of the hand. The bionic hand with strong flexibility can offer a new design conception in this kind of manipulators.