Determination of the Static Friction Present in Each Finger of a Three Fingered Modular Dextrous Hand

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the static friction (stiction) present in each finger of a three fingered modular hand and determine the torque required to break away from a stuck position. The static friction is a function of both position and direction of movement of the mtor driving the finger. Upon completion of enough trial runs from each position in each direction the results obtained will be averaged together to produce a mapping of the static friction of each finger of the gripper as a function of position and direction. This stiction data base will then be incorporated as a torque look-up table into the open loop control systems architecture of the hand. This compensation has been used in other robotics control experiments to produce a significantly more accurate open loop movement, greatly easing the operational burden of the eventual closed loop control.