Development of a tweezers-type device for a multi-fingered haptic interface robot

This paper presents the design of a tweezers-type device for a multi-fingered haptic interface robot called HIRO, and summarizes the experimental result. HIRO consists of a robot arm and a five-fingered hand, and is able to handle the tool with fingers. A variety of tools can be attached to HIRO, and the system is therefore able to present the force sensation of many tool-type devices. For example, in medical field, manufacturing industry, and others, there are many different shape and usage tools, so a haptic interface that can present the force sensation for many tools will be important for virtual training systems. This paper particularly focuses on the connection between HIRO and a tweezers-type device. By using a performance index, a tweezers-type device for HIRO that satisfies an optimal connection has been developed. Further, experimental test was carried out to investigate the performance of the developed tweezers-type device.