Design and Analysis of a Bimanual Parallel Dexterous Hand With Cooperative Manipulation Capability

Abstract A bimanual parallel dexterous hand with cooperative manipulation capability is proposed to solve the problem that one hand cannot achieve continuous in-hand manipulation. The bimanual parallel dexterous hand is composed of two parts: the inner ring fingers and the outer ring fingers. It is possible not only to perform a 6-degree-of-freedom manipulation with the inner ring fingers or six fingers but also to cooperate with the inner ring fingers and the outer ring fingers to achieve in-hand manipulation. Firstly, the inverse kinematics of the dexterous hand is analyzed and the velocity Jacobian matrices are established. Then, the workspace, dexterity, and stiffness of the dexterous hand during the inner ring finger manipulation and the six finger manipulation are analyzed and compared. Finally, a prototype of the dexterous hand is constructed and its performance is tested. It proves that continuous manipulation and assembly tasks can be achieved through the cooperation of the bimanual dexterous hand. At the same time, the workspaces of the dexterous hand manipulating objects of six different shapes are measured to demonstrate the in-hand manipulation capability. The proposed bimanual parallel dexterous hand provides a feasible reference scheme for the development and application of cooperative manipulation of dexterous hands with multiple fingers.