Robotic Hand and Arm for human

Thread Starter

Darknight7

Joined May 21, 2012
20
Hello;
I want to design a robotic hand which is used by humans. It receives commands from user. May be you know "man controls robotic hand wit brain" video. I need a program to design the structure of hand. I mean the "view". As I wrote I need a program.I research about that and I found SolidWork. However; I do not know how to use it. So I need another program. Also If you can it is better to take advices from you about my project.
Thank you all...
 

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,782
My father had his arm amputated by a piece of machinery 20-something years ago. He has tried several prosthetic arms over the years but they never work well for him because sweat causes the the receptors in the prosthesis to stop responding or respond erratically. If you're going to design a prosthesis I recommend you start there. Because if you can't improve on the weak area, then you're just reinventing the wheel which is not a good wheel to begin.
 

KMoffett

Joined Dec 19, 2007
2,918
....I research about that and I found SolidWork. However; I do not know how to use it. So I need another program....
I'm assuming you not only want to create 3D parts, but also be able to articulate the assembled parts. No matter which program you find, you will have to learn how to use it. None are so simple that there's no learning curve. The more powerful the program, the steeper/longer is the learning curve. Sorry, it's a fact of life in the land of CAD/CAE.

Ken
 

mcgyvr

Joined Oct 15, 2009
5,394
Google sketchup or
http://www.123dapp.com/create
or alibre
are all free 3d modelers..
But if you need advanced motion/constraints/assemblies,etc.. then Solidworks or Autodesk Inventor are great programs for that (not cheap though..roughly $5k USD each)

Check out Festo for some awesome robotic hands,etc.. They make amazing robotic assemblies.. Hands/delta robots/even a stingray.
 

mcgyvr

Joined Oct 15, 2009
5,394
3dsmax is NOT a 3d cad program. Its more of a graphics/animation program

wow alibre used to have a free version.. But regardless its still only under $200 for their personal version.
 

KMoffett

Joined Dec 19, 2007
2,918
.... But regardless its still only under $200 for their personal version.
Even with that ($199) they want another $99/subscription to maintain support. Been there, doing that. Another $199 for a set of training videos.
Be aware the I have it (Alibre Personal Edition)...and also Alibre CAM 2.0. I 'm on the learning curve, frustrated at times because it doesn't seem all that intuitive, but getting there. I will probably move up to Alibre Professional Edition CAD, because of the limited import and export options of Personal Edition. Love their parametric approach...as I'm not an artist. ;)

Ken
 

DMahalko

Joined Oct 5, 2008
189
I have no idea how to gauge what you are trying to do. Is this just a mock-up for fun? A school project? Something that doesn't really work like the real thing but vaguely approximates it?

Blowing a few thousand bucks on a "hobby" with no intended application for the result or product to sell, requires some real dedication.

Doing something like this will be far from easy. Just move your own fingers and examine how they move. Each finger needs four tendons to operate, and tendons are pull-only, they don't push. The base of each finger is a ball joint but they don't rotate in the ball joint.

Then if you actually want to build it, this means knowing how to design mechanical assemblies and either manually shape the parts by yourself on a mill and lathe, or use CAM modeling software and CNC to automate the shaping.

The parts have to be designed for assembly. It does not work to make a ball and socket joint and then not be able to insert the ball INTO the socket. Need lips, retainer rings, and then screws, clips, clamps, to hold it all together.

If you have adjacent knuckle ball joints on a single wrist frame, you may discover you can't assemble it because the first assembled finger takes up space needed to assemble the second, and so forth. All this requires planning out how you would actually do the final assembly, before you really get into it and discover you backed yourself into a corner 30 hours ago by overlooking some detail.

After you've done all this, it will have cost you tens of thousands of dollars building prototypes and trying and failing with many different designs.

Let's say that now you have built a mechanical hand that exactly duplicates the motion of a human hand. But how do you actually make it move? Now you need to know actuators. Linear, rotary, pneumatics, hydraulics, control systems, interfacing....



It would probably be far easier to try to get involved with what other people are already doing that aligns with your interests.

NASA wants robots to replace human astronauts. They're very interested in technology to duplicate human motion. Website for this:
http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/default.asp

Having a mechanical hand is just the beginning. You need the ability to detect how hard to hold something without crushing it.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120330110533.htm

Discovery News - Man Controls Robotic Hand with Mind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppILwXwsMng
 
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