Structure Design, Kinematics and Grasp Constraint of a Metamorphic Robotic Hand for Meat Deboning Operation

A four-fingered metamorphic robotic hand with a reconfigurable palm is presented in this paper with the application in deboning operation of meat industry. This robotic hand has a reconfigurable palm that generates changeable topology and augments dexterity and versatility for the hand. Mechanical structure and design of the robotic hand are presented and based on mechanism decomposition, kinematics of the metamorphic hand is investigated with closed-form solutions leading to the workspace characterization of the robotic hand. Based on the kinematics of the four-fingered metamorphic hand, utilizing product-of-exponentials formula, grasp map and grasp constraint of the hand are then formulated revealing the grasp robustness and manipulability performed by the metamorphic hand. A prototype of the four-fingered metamorphic hand is consequently fabricated and integrated with low level control and sensor systems leading to a scenario of applying the hand in the field of meat industry for deboning operation.