01632nas a2200241 4500008003900000245006600039210006500105260004000170520094200210653001201152653001301164100001501177700001501192700001501207700001701222700001801239700001801257700002001275700001601295700001501311700001501326856004901341 2017 d00aDesign of an Under-Actuated Wrist Based on Adaptive Synergies0 aDesign of an UnderActuated Wrist Based on Adaptive Synergies aSingapore, 29 May-3 June 2017bIEEE3 a

An effective robotic wrist represents a key enabling element in robotic manipulation, especially in prosthetics. In this paper, we propose an under-actuated wrist system, which is also adaptable and allows to implement different under-actuation schemes. Our approach leverages upon the idea of soft synergies - in particular the design method of adaptive synergies - as it derives from the field of robot hand design. First we introduce the design principle and its implementation and function in a configurable test bench prototype, which can be used to demonstrate the feasibility of our idea. Furthermore, we report on results from preliminary experiments with humans, aiming to identify the most probable wrist pose during the pre-grasp phase in activities of daily living. Based on these outcomes, we calibrate our wrist prototype accordingly and demonstrate its effectiveness to accomplish grasping and manipulation tasks.

10aHaptics10aRobotics1 aCasini, S.1 aTincani, V1 aAverta, G.1 aPoggiani, M.1 aDella Santina1 aBattaglia, E.1 aCatalano, M. G.1 aBianchi, M.1 aGrioli, G.1 aBicchi, A. uhttp://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7989789/02368nas a2200193 4500008003900000245017400039210006900213260004900282300001600331520145500347653001301802100001501815700001801830700001601848700002001864700001501884700001501899856026001914 2015 d00aDesign and Realization of the CUFF - Clenching Upper-Limb Force Feedback Wearable Device for Distributed Mechano-Tactile Stimulation of Normal and Tangential Skin Forces0 aDesign and Realization of the CUFF Clenching UpperLimb Force Fee aHamburg, Germany, 28 Sept - 2 Oct 2015bIEEE a1186 - 11933 a

Rendering forces to the user is one of the main goals of haptic technology. While most force-feedback interfaces are robotic manipulators, attached to a fixed frame and designed to exert forces on the users while being moved, more recent haptic research introduced two novel important ideas. On one side, cutaneous stimulation aims at rendering haptic stimuli at the level of the skin, with a distributed, rather than, concentrated approach. On the other side, wearable haptics focuses on highly portable and mobile devices, which can be carried and worn by the user as the haptic equivalent of an mp3 player. This paper presents a light and simple wearable device (CUFF) for the distributed mechano-tactile stimulation of the user’s arm skin with pressure and stretch cues, related to normal and tangential forces, respectively. The working principle and the mechanical and control implementation of the CUFF device are presented. Then, after a basic functional validation, a first application of the device is shown, where it is used to render the grasping force of a robotic hand (the Pisa/IIT SoftHand). Preliminary results show that the device is capable to deliver in a reliable manner grasping force information, thus eliciting a good softness discrimination in users and enhancing the overall grasping experience.

10aRobotics1 aCasini, S.1 aMorvidoni, M.1 aBianchi, M.1 aCatalano, M. G.1 aGrioli, G.1 aBicchi, A. uhttp://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=7353520&newsearch=true&queryText=Design%20and%20Realization%20of%20the%20CUFF%20-%20Clenching%20Upper-Limb%20Force%20Feedback%20Wearable%20Device%20for%20Distributed%20Mechano-Tactile%20Stimulatio