Mechanical Design Strategies of Dexterous Robotic Hands for Enhanced Precision Grasping: A Review

Precision grasping is a fundamental capability for dexterous robotic manipulation, enabling robots to handle small objects, perform delicate tasks, and interact safely with complex environments. However, achieving stable and accurate fingertip control remains challenging due to mechanical complexity, actuation limitations, and sensing constraints. This paper presents a comprehensive review of robotic hand designs from the perspective of precision grasping. The review analyzes key aspects of mechanical architecture, including finger kinematic structures, actuation and transmission systems, structural materials and fabrication methods, mechanical intelligence, and control-oriented mechanical design. Different design strategies such as fully actuated fingers, underactuated mechanisms, tendon-driven systems, linkage-based architectures, and soft robotic structures are compared in terms of dexterity, adaptability, accuracy, and system complexity. The analysis highlights several important trends, including the transition toward compliant and bio-inspired mechanisms, the integration of lightweight materials and additive manufacturing, and the increasing role of sensor–structure integration for precise force and position control. Despite significant progress, challenges such as friction, hysteresis, transmission compliance, and limited integration space still affect grasping accuracy and reliability. Based on the reviewed literature, future research should focus on hybrid actuation strategies, bio-inspired structural design, graded material architectures with structurally integrated sensing, and modular platforms to improve precision manipulation and system robustness in next-generation robotic hands.