Results, Conclusion, and Further Work

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The final prototype successfully retracts the finger to below palm height while maintaining the mechanical advantage of the original design. Furthermore, the full functionality of each finger can be preserved with our retraction design: each finger can still provide both a pinch and an encompassing grip. The only aspect of the original functionality that we did not explore was the abduction and adduction between the two side-by-side fingers. A demonstration of the mechanism in action can be seen below.

Future versions should use aluminum for the linkages and gears (as seen in the Robotiq finger) to retain the strength, size, and weight restrictions required during operation, and to also provide durability for continuous and repeated use. Additionally, the abduction-adduction hardware should be added by mounting the entire retraction linkage in a carriage that is connected to a second motor. Finally, optimization for weight can be explored to determine where mass can be eliminated from the added links and gears so that the operability of the gripper is not adversely affected.

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