Hands in the Real World

Abstract

Robots face a rapidly expanding range of potential applications beyond controlled environments, from remote exploration and search-and-rescue to household assistance and agriculture. The focus of physical interaction is typically delegated to end-effectors-fixtures, grippers or hands-as these machines perform manual tasks. Yet, effective deployment of versatile robot hands in the real world is still limited to few examples, despite decades of dedicated research. In this paper we review hands that found application in the field, aiming to discuss open challenges with more articulated designs, discussing novel trends and perspectives. We hope to encourage swift development of capable robotic hands for long-term use in varied real world settings. The first part of the paper centers around progress in artificial hand design, identifying key functions for a variety of environments. The final part focuses on the overall trends in hand mechanics, sensors and control, and how performance and resiliency are qualified for real world deployment.

Keywords: benchmarking; control; design; dexterous manipulation; field robotics; hands; mechanisms; sensing.

Figure 1

Examples of real world applied hands (Lovchik and Diftler, ; Hemming et al., ; Controzzi et al., ; Galloway et al., ; Gardecki and Podpora, ; Stuart et al., ; Friedl et al., ; Negrello et al., 2018). This paper focuses on field exploration, industrial applications, service robots, search and rescue and prosthetics.

Figure 2

Real world hand capabilities, including key elements for the function or behavior of the device during real world operations.

Figure 3

A graphical representation of the authors' qualitative opinion. A score of 1–5 indicates the estimated state of technological development of the hands in different fields. The blue layer (current capabilities) it is based on well-known examples of application retrieved in literature (e.g., Chalon et al., ; Gardecki and Podpora, ; Stuart et al., ; Negrello et al., ; Honda, ; Ottobock, ; SHUNK Robotics, 2019), while the orange layer is a qualitative representation of the opinion of the authors based on the review reported in section 2.

Figure 4

A comparison of the current technology readiness level (TRL) over different application fields, based on the authors' qualitative opinion (Top) and the definition of the TRL provided by the European commission (Bottom). Available online at: https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/other/wp/2018-2020/annexes/h2020-wp1820-annex-g-trl_en.pdf

Figure 5

Data extracted from the database provided in Piazza et al. (2019), (left) shows the hand layout distribution over the years, (middle) and (right) show the hand applications (industrial, prosthetic and human robot interaction) over the full century and the last 5 years, respectively. The database is available at the link: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/suppl/10.1146/annurev-control-060117-105003.