H-Man: customized handles for a 2D planar robot

Abstract

The project was to design a customized control handle for a 2D planar robot, which would provide a stable and comfortable working situation. The paper aimed to find out how the different shapes of handle effects to the stress distribution and user comfort. In the project, computer aided engineering technique was used to build a human hand model according to the order of bone, muscle, and hand. In order to define a nonlinear reaction force with a variable changing with time, the User-defined subroutine to specify Amplitudes (UAMP) , a subroutine of ABAQUS, was used to present a nonlinear function of time.

In the first part, the author searched for both the skeleton structure and the muscle structure of human hand. In order to clarify the detailed motion of grasping, it was very necessary to study the motion pattern and do dynamical analysis.

In the second part, the author built the 3D model of human hand, including phalanges, knuckles and muscles. After that, the author transferred the 3D model to ABAQUS to simulate a handle grasping test in a virtual situation. By using UAMP Code, the author devised an algorithm to perform the grasping test and completes the control system.

In the last part, the author set two pairs of control groups to examine the reliability of virtual grasping test by empty-handed testing and compare with practical experiment. And other three representative handle sample, an octahedral prism, a cylinder with slip-proving groove and a customized handle in curve, was tested and analyzed during the virtual grasping test.