Abstract
The UI Hand I robot is the pioneering development of an anthropomorphic robotic hand
for pushing the limits of dynamic biomimetic anthropomorphic robotic hand study in
Nigeria. The objective of this research is to develop a truly anthropomorphic hand that
captures all the DOF of the hand and can reproduce the dexterity of the human hand.Many
robotic hands have been developed so far, but many still lack true anthropomorphism;
many have used mechanisms different from those adopted by the human hand, leading to
significant deviations both in form and function. Our work aims to improve the fidelity of
biomimetic robotic hand design. To this end, we present the conceptual design of a
biomimetic, low-cost, modular, cable-driven, tele-operated 26 degrees of freedom
anthropomorphic robotic hand. We understudied the biomechanics of important features
of the anatomy of the human hand and wrist, developed appropriate mechanical models
that mimic the mechanics of these features, and compared them with the CT scan of an
actual human hand. The robotic hand's links were designed in Fusion 360 and 3D printed
in PLA. The muscles and tendons were modelled as a pulley-cable system using 0.46 mm
Spectra® fiber for the tendons, and micro electric motors were used for actuation. A
Raspberry Pi 4 was used as the controller, the leap motion controller as the teleoperation
device, and Deep Reinforcement Learning was used to learn a suitable control policy. The
proposed (UI hand I) anthropomorphic robotic hand and wrist model comprises 29 bones
and 17 composite joints with 26 degrees-of-freedom. A total of 80 components were used
to model the bones and joints with an estimated weight of 450g. With the addition of the
motors, battery and other electrical components, the upper limit of the estimate is 1.2 Kg.
The estimated cost of the project is $ 1, 241.80. The research aims to evaluate the robotic
hand's dexterity in teleoperation and achieve the full range of poses in the human hand,
with potential implications including enhanced automation in spacewalks, construction,
industrial operations, and prosthetics.