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Hand: open-source Robot Hand

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Re: Hand: open-source Robot Hand

#61
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most hand related jobs upwards of $100 per 30 min If this Robot hand can do those jobs we could see some industries take a hit

People have been making end effectors using hobby servos for ages. These servomotors are designed for use in an RC aircraft, they're light, cheap, and expendable. Industrial needs care not about weight, care less about cost, and care a great deal about capability, repeatability, and reliability. This is a cool project for a hobbyist but it's not meant to be a serious industrial machine. Edit: what is with this thread…

I think the confusion stems from the fact that you're responding to a joke innuendo thread.

Re: Hand: open-source Robot Hand

#63
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most hand related jobs upwards of $100 per 30 min If this Robot hand can do those jobs we could see some industries take a hit

People have been making end effectors using hobby servos for ages. These servomotors are designed for use in an RC aircraft, they're light, cheap, and expendable. Industrial needs care not about weight, care less about cost, and care a great deal about capability, repeatability, and reliability. This is a cool project for a hobbyist but it's not meant to be a serious industrial machine. Edit: what is with this thread…

...that's how it was in year 2020.

What you're missing is: today, we're nearing the point where actual general purpose robots become viable.

Which means: the purpose of a robot is no longer to sit at a factory line and precisely execute the same exact motions on repeat 24/7. The purpose of the next generation of robots is to learn generalized behaviors, adapt to circumstances, and carry out circumstance-specific actions with active sensor feedback. Which means completely different requirements for effectors.

Which means: repeatability can go get fucked, for one.

Re: Hand: open-source Robot Hand

#64
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People have been making end effectors using hobby servos for ages. These servomotors are designed for use in an RC aircraft, they're light, cheap, and expendable. Industrial needs care not about weight, care less about cost, and care a great deal about capability, repeatability, and reliability. This is a cool project for a hobbyist but it's not meant to be a serious industrial machine. Edit: what is with this thread…

...that's how it was in year 2020. What you're missing is: today, we're nearing the point where actual general purpose robots become viable. Which means: the purpose of a robot is no longer to sit at a factory line and precisely execute the same exact motions on repeat 24/7. The purpose of the next generation of robots is to learn generalized behaviors, adapt to circumstances, and carry out circumstance-specific acti…

Without repeatability, good luck tuning your robot to do anything reliable.

Re: Hand: open-source Robot Hand

#65
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, never thought of that I wonder if companies are experimenting with materials like UHMWPE for non-elastic, high strength-to-diameter tendons. I dont know if you'd have to weld the dyneema to the anchor points, though

I think you're misunderstanding the essence of the problem. If you use tendons, you'll need a neural network in your control loop that can learn continuously so that it compensates rope stretch and changes in friction through wear and tear. A lot of problems in robotics reduce down to continual learning. Essentially all system identification tasks become obsolete the moment you have a self learning system and yet we…

I would think pressure and angle sensors tied to a PID loop would suffice, but I'm not a roboticist.

Re: Hand: open-source Robot Hand

#66
post #4
post #3

Would it be possible to have tendons running through the arms, so the weight of the hand is reduced?

Most tendons materials are elastic. That lead to create calibration problems and require proprioceptive sensors in the hand

In practice force sensing is more useful than proprioception in most cases, at least for grasping. Generally you won't the dimensions of an object you're attempting to grasp anywhere near as well as you would know the shape of the hand you're using so a certain amount of underactuated compliance makes the job a lot easier.

Re: Hand: open-source Robot Hand

#68

What jumps out at me is the $135 bill of materials. What a time to be alive!

Feetech is selling actuators which are mechanically R/C type servos, but have a bidirectional computer interface allowing the control computer to find out what's happening at the servo.[1] This isn't new; Dynamixel has been doing it for over a decade. But not at this price point. This Feetech servo is $17, while Dynamixel units start around $70 and go much higher.[2]

The parts list has "need to be strong" for many of the small parts, but they are 3D printed PLA plastic. That's the low end of 3D printing. None of the videos show the hand handling anything.

So this is really the proof of concept model. If there's enough interest, someone could make the parts by injection-molding of something better, such as polycarbonate or glass-filled nylon. The total plastic volume here is so tiny that the plastic cost is negligible, and there's no reason not to use a high-quality engineering plastic.

Nobody seems to do hobbyist injection molding much. TechShop had a desktop injection molding machine, the CNC milling machines to make molds, and even Autodesk Moldflow to design them. But nobody used those tools. A few university maker spaces have similar machines. Because most of the world's plastic stuff is made by injection molding.

[1] https://www.feetechrc.com/

[2] https://www.robotis.us/dynamixel/

[3] https://makerspace.engineering.nyu.edu/machines/pim/

Re: Hand: open-source Robot Hand

#70
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People have been making end effectors using hobby servos for ages. These servomotors are designed for use in an RC aircraft, they're light, cheap, and expendable. Industrial needs care not about weight, care less about cost, and care a great deal about capability, repeatability, and reliability. This is a cool project for a hobbyist but it's not meant to be a serious industrial machine. Edit: what is with this thread…

Woosh

oh....oh no....
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