The GFPA Finger: Parallel-Adaption Merged Robot Finger based on Gear-Flexible Belt Mechanism

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel design of an underactuated finger that integrating the advantages of two most frequently used grasping method: parallel-pinching method and self-adaptive method. The finger has an underactuated mechanism using gears, tension spring and flexible belt, GFPA finger. The designed gear transmission and flexible belt-tension spring in the fingers could let the finger grasping object in a merged movement of parallel pinching and self-adaptive, which not only has the advantages of parallel-pinching to grasp the shape of the plate, but also has the advantages of adaptive way to adapt to the shape of the object. Due to the special structure including gear mechanism and tension spring-flexible belt mechanism, the finger could firstly rotate the proximal phalanx while keep the distal phalanx in a parallel motion through the meshed series gear. The distal phalanx will rotate to envelope the object only after the proximal phalanx contact with the object. The GFPA finger has important application prospects in the field of humanoid, aeronautics and Astronautics, etc.