A tendon and rigid element assembly that includes a tendon subassembly, including a tendon having a longitudinal end having a mating portion. Also, a rigid element has a mating portion. Further, a first one of the mating portions includes a set of projections and a second one of the mating portions defines a set of indentations that are sized and shaped to accept and retain the projections and wherein the set of projections are secured in the set of indentations, thereby securing the tendon to the rigid element.

An object fastening device which can prevent foreign matter from ending up damaging an object when confirming the object is properly seated, which object fastening device is provided with a receiving part, a pushing part which pushes the object against the receiving part, a first drive part which makes the pushing part generate a first force, a second drive part which is provided separate from the first drive part and makes the pushing part generate a second force which is smaller than the first force, and a foreign matter detecting part which detects foreign matter which is interposed between the object and receiving part while the second drive part is being used to cause the pushing part to push the object against the receiving part.

A multi-articulated manipulator composed of more than one hollow outer shell, joints to connect the outer shells to each other, a grasping member fastened for rotating movement with respect to the proximal outer shell, a claw transmission shaft to actuate the grasping member to rotate and an outer shell power transmission shaft to actuate the outer shells in to rotate independently from each other. The claw transmission shaft and the outer shell power transmission shaft respectively are composed of universal joints capable of rotating force and transmitting torque.

A robotic system including a robot and an end effector cuff connected to the robot. The end effector cuff has a body and includes at least one fluid inlet, at least one fluid port fluidly connected to the at least one fluid inlet, at least one fluid valve fluidly connected to the at least one fluid port and housed within the body of the end effector cuff, and an electronic control unit operably coupled to the robot and housed within the body of the end effector cuff. The robotic system also includes an end effector connected to the end effector cuff.

A tendon-driven robotic gripper is disclosed for performing fingertip and enveloping grasps. One embodiment comprises two fingers, each with two links, and is actuated using a single active tendon. During unobstructed closing, the distal links remain parallel, creating exact fingertip grasps. Conversely, if the proximal links are stopped by contact with an object, the distal links start flexing, creating a stable enveloping grasp. The route of the active tendon and the parameters of the springs providing passive extension forces are optimized in order to achieve this behavior. An additional passive tendon is disclosed that may be used as a constraint preventing the gripper from entering undesirable parts of the joint workspace. A method for optimizing the dimensions of the links in order to achieve enveloping grasps of a large range of objects is disclosed and applied to a set of common household objects.

A tendon and rigid element assembly that includes a tendon subassembly, including a tendon having a longitudinal end having a mating portion. Also, a rigid element has a mating portion. Further, a first one of the mating portions includes a set of projections and a second one of the mating portions defines a set of indentations that are sized and shaped to accept and retain the projections and wherein the set of projections are secured in the set of indentations, thereby securing the tendon to the rigid element.

A method of generating a configuration of a robotic hand for automatically grasping a first object, the robotic hand comprising a plurality of parts, is provided. The method comprises: receiving data representing the first object; receiving a plurality of first models generated based upon an example grasp of a second object, the example grasp being based upon a configuration of the robotic hand for grasping the second object in which a plurality of parts of said hand contact said second object, each of said plurality of first models representing a relationship between a respective part of the robotic hand and a property of the second object associated with said part of the robotic hand; and processing the data representing the first object based upon the plurality of first models to determine said configuration of the robotic hand for automatically grasping the first object.

A robotic compliant jaw gripper includes one or more fingers, wherein each finger comprises a plurality of phalanges configured to grasp an object, wherein an internal compliant element is compressed, or wherein a proximal phalange contacts a compliant element as the finger applies pressure against the object; and a preload unit is configured to change the durometer of the compressible element.

A surgical system uses a single entry port in a wide variety of surgeries. To insert multiple surgical instruments into a patient through a single entry port requires that the shaft of at least one of the surgical instruments be bent between the base of the surgical instrument and the point where the shaft contacts a channel in an entry guide. Each surgical instrument is positioned by an instrument manipulator positioning system so that when the shaft is inserted in a channel of the entry guide, any bending of the shaft does not damage the surgical instrument and does not inhibit proper operation of the surgical instrument.

A gripping device for a robotic manipulation device that grips and attaches teat cups to an animal. The gripping device for each teat cup to be gripped and attached includes a holding member configured to releasably hold a teat cup, and a power member configured to move the holding member from a base position (p1) to a raised position (p2) in which the teat cup can be attached to a teat. The gripping device for each teat cup to be gripped and attached includes a movable cover portion movably arranged between a covering position, in which it covers the opening of the teat cup, and a non-covering position, in which the opening of the teat cup is exposed. When power member lifts the holding member from the base position to the raised position, the movable cover portion moves from the covering position to the non-covering position.