Educational SoftHand-A: Building an Anthropomorphic Hand with Soft Synergies using LEGO MINDSTORMS

This paper introduces an anthropomorphic robot hand built entirely using LEGO MINDSTORMS: the Educational SoftHand-A, a tendon-driven, highly-underactuated robot hand based on the Pisa/IIT SoftHand and related hands. To be suitable for an educational context, the design is constrained to use only standard LEGO pieces with tests using common equipment available at home. The hand features dual motors driving an agonist/antagonist opposing pair of tendons on each finger, which are shown to result in reactive fine control. The finger motions are synchonized through soft synergies, implemented with a differential mechanism using clutch gears. Altogether, this design results in an anthropomorphic hand that can adaptively grasp a broad range of objects using a simple actuation and control mechanism. Since the hand can be constructed from LEGO pieces and uses state-of-the-art design concepts for robotic hands, it has the potential to educate and inspire children to learn about the frontiers of modern robotics.