The UASA (Under-Actuated Self-Adaptive) Robotic Hand was developed to address the issue of complexity, cost, and fragility of modern robotic hands. Where the majority of competing commercially available robotic hands used a large number of small motors, the UASA design employs a single large motor combined with a small gearbox to achieve the same motion. This resulted in a design that was comparatively stronger and more robust but also significantly cheaper. In sacrificing the ability to individually control joints within the hand however, the UASA hand needed a new passive adaptation capability where spring and damping properties are used to fit the hand to the object it holds. While introducing passivity complicated the design process, the end result not only achieved the project goals but also simplified the control requirements (even when grasping complex objects).

Key Features:
– Simple 1-motor actuation
– Large range of objects supported (e.g. sphere 3cm dia. to 20 cm dia.)
– Passively adapts to object shapes (no control needed)
– Large (2 kg.) payload capacity