Virginia Tech's RoMeLa Develops a Low Cost, Dexterous Robotic Hand Operated
   by Compressed Air 
From: ACM TechNews - 05/08/2009
By: Virginia Mackay

The Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) at the Virginia Tech College
of Engineering has developed the Robotic Air Powered Hand with Elastic
Ligaments (RAPHaEL), a robotic hand capable of firmly holding heavy objects
or delicately holding fragile objects. RAPHaEL is a fully articulated robotic
hand that is powered by compressed air and an accordion-type tube actuator.
Movement and coordination is controlled using microcontroller commands. "This
air-powered design is what makes the hand unique, as it does not require the
use of any motors or other actuators, the grasping force and compliance can
be easily adjusted by simply changing the air pressure," says RoMeLa director
Dennis Hong. The force of the grip is determined by the amount of air
pressure, with low pressure used for a delicate grip and high pressure used
for a sturdier grip. RAPHaEL is part of a larger RoMeLa project, a humanoid
robot known as CHARLI (Cognitive Humanoid Robot with Learning Intelligence).
The hand is on its second prototype design, and once the newer model is
connected to the larger robot body, CHARLI will be able to pick up objects
like a person. Hong says CHARLI is the first full-sized bipedal walking
humanoid robot to be built entirely in the United States. CHARLI will be used
as a general humanoid research platform and for the RoboCup Humanoid Teen
size league at RoboCup 2010. 

The Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) of the College of Engineering
at Virginia Tech has developed a unique robotic hand that can firmly hold
objects as heavy as a can of food or as delicate as a raw egg, while
dexterous enough to gesture for sign language. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.eng.vt.edu/news/article.php?niid=1686

Link:
College of Engineering at Virginia Tech - Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory
http://www.me.vt.edu/romela/

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Virginia Tech College of Engineering's Improved Robotic Hand Captures Top Award
From: Virginia Tech News - 09/24/2009
By: Steven Mackay

A team of five undergraduates from the Virginia Tech College of Engineering
have placed first in a competition run by the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers for RAPHaEL 2, a robotic hand that runs on compressed air. Rather
than using a clunky motor, the hand relies on air pressure to grip objects.
Varying levels of pressure can be applied depending on the item's shape and
weight. The hand also uses a flexible tube actuator. Supported by the
Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory, the students improved upon the original
RAPHaEL by adding closed loop control mechanism to its design as well as
sensors for force feedback and automatic positioning of the fingers. Students
also exchanged the first hand's acrylic material with a stronger
polycarbonate one. "This gives us a lot more control over the kinds of things
we can do with the hand," says student Kyle Cothern. "Eventually, we might be
able to tell how soft an object you're grabbing is just by touching it." In
the future, students hope to design the hand to pick up small objects in
motion and to use lighter materials to make it look and feel more human.
Cothern says that RAPHaEL 2 would be an ideal prosthetic hand because it is
simple to use and its fingers are replaceable. Eventually, Virginia Tech
researchers hope that RAPHaEL 2 will form part of the Cognitive Humanoid
Robot with Learning Intelligence robot. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.eng.vt.edu/news/article.php?niid=1952