Design, Fabrication and Testing of ModBot, the Biomimetic, Backdrivable, Modular Finger Robot

The work in this thesis introduces a new type of biomimetic fully backdrivable modular robotic finger that makes use of low friction joints actuated by cable drives to achieve given tasks such as reaching, grasping fragile objects and applying force to surfaces. The ModBot finger is a 3 degree of freedom finger that has the capabilities to process force and touch sensation at and along the tip of the finger while retaining all capable movement and degrees of freedom achieved by a human finger.;Every piece of the ModBot finger has evolved many times in order to shed weight, lower inertia and achieve a backdrivable system. To achieve a true backdrivable system gears could not be used, due to the backlash, friction had to be reduced to its smallest value, weight was optimized for a high strength to weight ratio and part shapes were carefully engineered to achieve a low inertia, all of this allows for a smooth operating joint. This is all achieved with a minimal amount of parts used per finger.;The contribution of this thesis is to create a modular finger robot that is fully backdrivable, biomimetic and that does not use gears. The second contribution is to optimize the design of the robot utilizing different materials, mechanisms and sensors to achieve near frictionless movement. The final contribution is to design the robot that can be modular, so that it can placed in various positions with multiple fingers to accommodate a given situation or test setup.