Pin array hand: A universal robot gripper with pins of ellipse contour

Conventional robot hands have been deployed in many applications. These robot hands often encounter difficulties performing complex manipulation tasks in unstructured environments. Special robot hand comes into being, challenging the universal grasp capability. This paper presents a new special hand based on pin array, which is called pin array hand. Pin array hand is able to establish multiple contact points to grasp a wide variety of objects regardless their shape. The contour of each pin is ellipse, allowing shape adaption in vertical and horizontal direction. Grasp force is analyzed base on different contact model. Simulation and experimental prototype verifies the predicted performance.