A Novel Genetic-Based Underactuated Robot Gripper with Rack-Crank-Slider Mechanism

The underactuated robot fingers are inseparable from the self-adaptive grasping mode (called SA mode) among the various grasping modes. However, many current underactuated finger designs follow a conventional approach of discovering novel mechanisms and integrating them into existing functions through simple combinations. In this paper, a genetic-based design method for underactuated fingers in series is proposed. The core of the proposed design method stems from the idea of “design inside one phalanx”. Genetic-based means each finger mechanism has one genotype, and the design of novel mechanisms is realized through hybridization of the mechanisms. Through this genetic design method, this paper proposes a novel rack-crank-slider mechanism, which is capable of self-adaptive grasping. A specific design of the rack-crank-slider robot finger has also been proposed. Subsequently, a detailed analysis of the mechanism was done and grasping experiments were carried to prove its feasibility and the stability.