Remote-Controlled Ambidextrous Robot Hand Actuated by Pneumatic Muscles

236 Pages·2015·6.18 MB·English

Remote-Controlled Ambidextrous Robot Hand
Actuated by Pneumatic Muscles:
from Feasibility Study
to Design and Control Algorithms

A thesis submitted for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

By

Emre Akyürek

Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering
School of Engineering and Design
Brunel University

June 2015
Declaration of Authorship

I, Emre Akyürek, certify that the work introduced in this thesis entitled “Remote-
Controlled Ambidextrous Robot Hand Actuated by Pneumatic Muscles: from Feasibility
Study to Design and Control” is my own. I confirm that:
-This work was entirely achieved while in candidature for a Doctor of Philosophy degree at
Brunel University.
-The works done by my colleagues or achieved as teamwork are clearly defined and
specified.
-The articles I have consulted for my research are referenced.

Signed:

Date: 10/06/2015

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To my ex-brothers in arms Kim-Hwa Khoo, Michaël Rouart and Daniel Truong
By the sides of whom I fought these evil monsters called exams and assignments.
To those by the sides of whom I bled and suffered,
Learning the true meanings of distress and agony.
To those who were always at my side
To heal my wounds and to repair my weapons,
Teaching me the true meanings of friendship and solidarity.
To my dear friends Kim-Hwa, Michaël and Daniel,
Who were my only family on the battlefield.
To my ex-brothers in arms,
By the sides of whom I have become the warrior I am.

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Abstract

This thesis relates to the development of the Ambidextrous Robot Hand engineered in
Brunel University.
Assigned to a robotic hand, the ambidextrous feature means that two different
behaviours are accessible from a single robot hand, because of its fingers architecture which
permits them to bend in both ways. On one hand, the robotic device can therefore behave as a
right hand whereas, on another hand, it can behave as a left hand. The main contribution of
this project is its ambidextrous feature, totally unique in robotics area. Moreover, the
Ambidextrous Robot Hand is actuated by pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs), which are not
commonly used to drive robot hands. The type of the actuators consequently adds more
originality to the project.
The primary challenge is to reach an ambidextrous behaviour using PAMs designed to
actuate non-ambidextrous robot hands. Thus, a feasibility study is carried out for this
purpose. Investigating a number of mechanical possibilities, an ambidextrous design is
reached with features almost identical for its right and left sides. A testbench is thereafter
designed to investigate this possibility even further to design ambidextrous fingers using 3D
printing and an asymmetrical tendons routing engineered to reduce the number of actuators.
The Ambidextrous Robot Hand is connected to a remote control interface accessible from its
website, which provides video streaming as feedback, to be eventually used as an online
rehabilitation device.
The secondary main challenge is to implement control algorithms on a robot hand
with a range twice larger than others, with an asymmetrical tendons routing and actuated by
nonlinear actuators. A number of control algorithms are therefore investigated to interact with
the angular displacement of the fingers and the grasping abilities of the hand. Several
solutions are found out, notably the implementations of a phasing plane switch control and a
sliding-mode control, both specific to the architecture of the Ambidextrous Robot Hand. The
implementation of these two algorithms on a robotic hand actuated by PAMs is almost as
innovative as the ambidextrous design of the mechanical structure itself.

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Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I wish to express my acknowledgments to everybody who worked
at my side or who provided me assistance on the Ambidextrous Robot Hand project.
Firstly, I thank my parents for the funding of my PhD and their support over these
three years I spent in United Kingdom.
Secondly, I thank my supervisors. Dr Tatiana Kalganova, for having proposed me to
carry on my engineering internship as a PhD study and for having gathered teams of students
every year to work on the different parts of the project. Dr Roger Powell, for his approval and
his support about the control methods I used during the third year of my project. Dr Peter
Turner, for his advices in electronics and for having guided me on my first steps in control
theory during my first year, but who sadly passed away in the middle of my second year.
May he rest in peace. Finally, my unofficial supervisor Prof Stelarc, who had the idea of a
robotic hand with an ambidextrous design, and without whom the project would not exist. I
acknowledge him for his enthusiasm and for having funded a number of pneumatic and
electronic devices, without which the Ambidextrous Hand could not be actuated.
I am very grateful to Shadow Robot Company, which also played an important role in
the project. They provided a number of pneumatic materials, electronic devices and hardware
coding at an early stage of the project. On these points, I mainly thank Mr Richard Walker for
his advices and his help about computer and software parts, Mr Armando De La Rosa
Thames and Mr Matthew Godden for their knowledge in pneumatic equipment, as well as Mr
Agust Johannson for his knowledge in analog electronics. During the second and third years
of my PhD, Shadow Robot carried on provided help by finding and selling very specific
devices, using their relationships with professional suppliers.
I also thank Festo, for having sold a large amount of pneumatic muscles at half price
and for having received me for free at a training session about modern industrial pneumatic in
the beginning of my second year of PhD.
Then I wish to sincerely acknowledge each of my colleagues, who joined the
Ambidextrous Robot Hand in partial fulfilment for their Bachelor or Master degrees, either as
half-time researchers through an academic year or as research visitors during short
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internships. None of them were paid but each contributed to the project in one way or
another.
Mashood Mukhtar, the only PhD student but me, who joined the project in the
beginning of my third year. His analog and research skills were helpful to complete my work.
Mashood is the one who will keep cohesion in the project and who will guide the incomers
after my departure. I wish him the best of luck.
Nicolas Lesne, who worked on the project in summer 2014. His solid practical
knowledge allowed him to implement a new type of sensors and additional electronic devices
on the hardware system. Nicolas also upgraded this hardware system and computed very fast
the grasping algorithms that I engineered.
Paul Bazin, who joined the project during the academic year 2013/2014, Marina
Honoré, Frédéric Giang and Anthony Tran, who were at my side in summer 2013. Paul and
Marina worked on the signal acquisition of electromyography, Frédéric considerably
improved a hand gesture recognition application and Anthony developed a server connected
to the software frameworks Robotic Operating System. Although none of the works achieved
by these four students directly interfere with my research, I appreciated their company and
their contribution to the project.
The mechanical team of the academic year 2012/2013: Luke Steele, Michal Simko,
Luke Kavanagh and Alisdair Nimmo, for having designed the mechanical structure of the
Ambidextrous Robot Hand I have worked on during my third year. In addition to have all
contributed to the design of ambidextrous fingers, each of them worked on specific parts as
well. Luke S. designed Hall effect sensors and implemented them in the hand. Michal
modified the design of a number of mechanical structures in record time, to make them
compatible with other versions of pneumatic muscles received very late. Luke K. worked on
the thumb, the palm, the routing and fixation of tendons. Alisdair also worked on the thumb
and the palm, as well as on the implementation of load cells.
A special acknowledgment to Anthony Huynh, for the excellent work he did on the
hardware part during the academic year 2012/2013, making microcontroller units compatible
with a full robot hand. Anthony worked with me on many parts, such as analog and
pneumatic interfaces, sensors’ calibrations, control algorithms, remote experiments,
electronic and mechanical testing. A number of sleepless nights were spent on some of these
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tasks during my second year. Other kinds of sleepless nights were spent together during my
third year, this time playing video games and watching horror movies. Thank you for being
such an excellent friend, Anthony!
I would like to emphasise that Luke S., Michal, Luke K. and Anthony carried on
working on the project for one month and half after their deadline (Alisdair could not
continue as he was recruited for a job), even though they had already submitted their report
long ago, without expecting any rewards but own satisfaction.
My high school friend Michel Heinrich, who came in Brunel in autumn 2012, to
design the project’s website and to debug issues with the remote control system. Michel
being a professional web designer, working with him allowed me to acquire knowledge about
web development very fast.
The remote control team of summer 2012: Alexandre Dilly, Fabrice Jourdan and Zhu
Liu, who made the robot hand prototype move from internet with a video feedback for the
first time, through a number of applications. A special acknowledgement to Alexandre for
having worked very efficiently and produced so much in a very short time. Designing a
server-client interface including an embedded webcam, Alexandre reached all his
requirements at half of his internship. He was then asked to work on a plugin for hand gesture
recognition using a webcam, adding even more originality to the project. His knowledge in
software and programming were very useful to the project and he guided me to design my
part of the remote control interface. Fabrice and Zhu respectively worked on a Facebook
application and on client software, connecting the computer processes of Alexandre and
myself to their remote systems.
Souraneel Chattoraj, who worked with me on early prototypes and control theory
through the academic year 2011/2012. Not reaching ambidextrous movements after months
was frustrating and discouraging. Seeing Souraneel having the same difficulties as mine
helped me to feel more confident. And at the end of the day, we finally succeeded to have an
ambidextrous finger working.
A special thought to my very first colleague, Itziar Berruezo Juandeaburre, with
whom I did my internship in Brunel in summer 2011. Learning about microcontrollers,
software, pneumatic and mechanics, we succeeded to make something moving at the end of
our three months. Without her company, starting the project from nothing and without any
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robotic knowledge would have been a big issue. I probably would have never asked to carry
on my work placement as a PhD project if I had been on my own.
I acknowledge all of them for the work they did and the time we spent together.
I thank the electronic and mechanical departments of Brunel University, as well as the
College Stores, the Information technology, the Research Office, the wood shop and the
Computer Support for providing me assistance and the material I needed. I particularly
acknowledge Mr Michael Lateo for his savoir-faire in analog electronics and the help he
provided me for a number of electronic interfaces. I also thank Mr Simon Hodkinson for
having helped me finding appropriate pneumatic devices.
I acknowledge Dr Nina Sellars for having enthusiastically introduced me to a
prototype of her PhD project “Lucida” and who permitted me to discover some outcomes
reached by the merging of art and science.
Last but not least, I thank a lot my amazing girlfriend, my close brother and once
again my parents, thanks to whom I spent excellent holidays and could come back to Brunel
in excellent shape.

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Abbreviations

3D Three-dimensional space
ADC Analog-to-digital converter
AI Artificial intelligence
BSC Backstepping control
CPU Central processing unit
DAC Digital-to-analog converter
DC Direct current
DIP Distal interphalangeal
DOF Degree of freedom
EMG Electromyography
FPAM Pneumatic artificial muscle
manufactured by Festo
FPGA Field-programmable gate array
GA Genetic algorithm
GUI Graphical user interface
HCI Human-computer interaction
HGR Hand gesture recognition
HTML HyperText Markup Language
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
ID Inside diameter
IDE Integrated development environment
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IP Internet Protocol
IR Infrared
I/O Inputs/outputs
LED Light emitting diodes
MCP Metacarpophalangeal
MCU Microcontroller unit
MOSFET Metal-oxide-semiconductor
MOSFET field-effect transistor
N/A Not available
NN Neural network
OD Outside diameter
PAM Pneumatic artificial muscle
PD Proportional derivative
PI Proportional integrative
PIC Peripheral Interface Controller
PID Proportional integrative derivative
PIP Proximal interphalangeal
PLP Phantom limb pain
PPSC Phasing plane switch control
PSI Pounds per square inch
PSO Particle swarm optimisation
PWM Pulse-width modulation
RCI Remote control interface
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