Design of an Adaptive Modular Anthropomorphic Dexterous Hand for Human-like Manipulation

2025-11-26

AI Summary

Conventional dexterous hands face a fundamental trade-off between actuation complexity and operational dexterity. Method: This paper proposes an adaptive, modular anthropomorphic dexterous hand inspired by biological synergy mechanisms. By mapping human gesture analysis and biomechanics onto a modular joint architecture, we design a biomimetic finger unit with four degrees of freedom (DOFs) actuated by only two actuators. The approach integrates biologically informed mapping, modular mechanical design, kinematic modeling, and physical prototype validation—overcoming limitations of traditional strongly coupled architectures. Contribution/Results: Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the prototype achieves human-like grasping and in-hand manipulation through five-finger coordination, while maintaining exceptional structural adaptability and control simplicity. With minimal actuation (only two actuators per finger), it attains high dexterity, empirically validating a novel “simplicity-for-complexity” paradigm for anthropomorphic manipulation.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Manipulation
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Simulating Human Behavior
• Humans and AI: Interaction Techniques and Devices

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: User modeling and simulation for interactive and conversational systems
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Incentives in network design for Web infrastructures and ecosystems
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy

Abstract

Biological synergies have emerged as a widely adopted paradigm for dexterous hand design, enabling human-like manipulation with a small number of actuators. Nonetheless, excessive coupling tends to diminish the dexterity of hands. This paper tackles the trade-off between actuation complexity and dexterity by proposing an anthropomorphic finger topology with 4 DoFs driven by 2 actuators, and by developing an adaptive, modular dexterous hand based on this finger topology. We explore the biological basis of hand synergies and human gesture analysis, translating joint-level coordination and structural attributes into a modular finger architecture. Leveraging these biomimetic mappings, we design a five-finger modular hand and establish its kinematic model to analyze adaptive grasping and in-hand manipulation. Finally, we construct a physical prototype and conduct preliminary experiments, which validate the effectiveness of the proposed design and analysis.

Problem

• Designs a modular hand balancing actuation simplicity and dexterity
• Translates biological synergies into a biomimetic finger architecture
• Validates the hand's adaptive grasping through prototype experiments

Innovation

• Anthropomorphic finger topology with 4 DoFs and 2 actuators
• Modular dexterous hand based on biomimetic synergy mappings
• Kinematic model for adaptive grasping and in-hand manipulation