This study describes the design of a novel flexible robotic hand that can adapt its configurations to different grasping demands. Firstly, a mathematical model, based on the Yeoh strain energy function and virtual work principle, is established to investigate deformation properties of the designed soft finger. To achieve a flexible grasping capability, a changeable palm is presented with its variable configurations in terms of target objects with different sizes and shapes. A kinematic model of the flexible robotic hand is established, and then the numerical simulations based on the Monte-Carlo method and Matlab is applied to analyse the workspace of the hand and address the parameter optimisation problem of the rigid-flexible coupled system. Furthermore, an optimised grasping strategy on the basis of the principle of optimal efficiency is proposed to obtain an optimal grasping pose for the target object. Finally, a prototype is developed and tested in a laboratory to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of our proposed hand. The results of practical experiments show that the robotic hand cannot only stably grasp objects with different sizes and shapes but also flexibly manipulate soft and fragile ones. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

中文翻译：

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手指柔软、手掌多变的柔性机械手的设计与分析

本研究描述了一种新型柔性机械手的设计，该机械手可以根据不同的抓取需求调整其配置。首先，建立了基于Yeoh应变能函数和虚功原理的数学模型来研究设计的软手指的变形特性。为了实现灵活的抓握能力，针对不同大小和形状的目标物体，呈现出具有可变配置的可变手掌。建立了柔性机械手的运动学模型，然后应用基于蒙特卡罗方法和Matlab的数值模拟来分析机械手的工作空间，解决刚柔耦合系统的参数优化问题。此外，基于最优效率原则提出优化抓取策略，以获得目标物体的最优抓取姿态。最后，在实验室中开发并测试了原型，以证明我们提出的手的可行性和有效性。实际实验结果表明，机械手不仅可以稳定抓取不同大小和形状的物体，还可以灵活操纵柔软易碎的物体。图形概要