Design and fabrication of motor controlled finger with single degree of freedom mechanism

Project Title

Design and fabrication of motor controlled finger with single degree of freedom mechanism

Project Area of Specialization Mechatronics EngineeringProject Summary

The main aim of the current project is to restore the functionality of the lost fingers. In this project, a single degree of freedom finger is designed and fabricated. The finger movement is controlled with an electric motor. The mechanical structure of the finger is designed as a single degree of freedom closed chain mechanism composed of rigid links and revolute joints. A single motor is attached to the finger for producing movements.  The speed, torque and movement of the finger will be controlled by the use of a microcontroller attached with the motor.  A set of such finger is used for the purpose of grasping different objects.

The main aim of the current project is to restore the functionality of the lost fingers. In this project, a single degree of freedom finger is designed and fabricated. The finger movement is controlled with an electric motor. The mechanical structure of the finger is designed as a single degree of freedom closed chain mechanism composed of rigid links and revolute joints. A single motor is attached to the finger for producing movements.  The speed, torque and movement of the finger will be controlled by the use of a microcontroller attached with the motor.  A set of such finger is used for the purpose of grasping different objects.

Project Objectives

1)Design of Mechanical body and Electrical circuitry of the finger.

2)Fabrication of the Mechanical body and Electrical circuitry of the finger.

3)Testing of the designed components.

Project Implementation Method

This project will be executed in different steps;

i.The mechanical parts of the product will be designed on software (CREO 6.0) first.

ii.Then, the testing will be done by simulation and analysis process through the same software.

iii.After the successful testing of the mechanical parts, the required electrical circuitry will be designed on software (Proteus 8 Professional) along with the programming on software (MPLAB / STM32CUBE MX).

iv.Then, the testing of the electrical circuit will be carried out first by using the same software and then by patching the circuit physically.

v.After the successful  separately testing of both the mechanical and electrical parts of the product, we will then make its prototype model by using 3D printer for mechanical parts, which will be then our final and desired product.

Benefits of the Project

The resultant design is a compact rigid link finger, which is adaptive to different shapes and sizes providing necessary grasping features. A number of such fingers can be assembled to function as a special purpose end effector.

For example;

1. Can be used as an artificial finger of the human hand for performing routine activities like holding cup while having tea or drinking water etc.
2. A set of such fingers (let say three fingers) can be used to make a manipulator used in industry for picking, grasping and holding purposes etc.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

Final product will consist of the following technical properties;

1. It has a six bar linkage mechanism configuration.
2. All the links are rigid. There are four binary links and two ternary links present in the mechanism.
3. All the links are attached with revolute joints.
4. There are total seven revolute joints in the finger mechanism.
5. By using Gruebler and Kutzbach equations of mobility, the degree of freedom of the finger  comes out to be one (M = 1).
6. The finger will be actuated by a DC gear motor.
7. How much force is required to grasp or hold an object will be decided by the microcontroller.
8. Necessasry circuitry will also be present for the direction control of the motor and to power the electronics devices.

Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemCore Industry ManufacturingOther Industries Health Core Technology RoboticsOther Technologies Wearables and ImplantablesSustainable Development Goals Good Health and Well-Being for PeopleRequired Resources

Elapsed time in (days or weeks or month or quarter) since start of the project	Milestone	Deliverable
Month 1	Literature Review	Report on previous work done in this field.
Month 2	Conceptual Design	3D Design of the finger with software based simulation and analysis results.
Month 3	Design of electronic circuitry	Software based design and analysis of the circuitry.
Month 4	Testing of the circuit on hardware, 3D printing of the mechanical components.	PCB of the circuit after testing the circuit physically. Physical model of the finger.
Month 5	Interfacing of electrical and mechanical systems.	Fabricated finger mechanism.
Month 6	Final testing of the product.	Motor controlled finger mechanism with single degree of freedom.
Month 7	Report Writing and final presentation.	Technical Report and Presentation along with final hardware system