# US 11,207,788 B2 · Hand control apparatus and hand control system

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- Number: US 11,207,788 B2
- Document ID: US11207788B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/266,231
- Filed: 2019-02-04
- Published: 2019-10-10
- Granted: 2021-12-28
- Earliest claimed: 2018-04-10
- Assignees: Fanuc Corporation
- Applicants: Fanuc Corporation
- Inventors: Wenjie Chen; Tetsuaki Kato; Kaimeng Wang
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11207788B2

## CPC

- B25J 13/082: {Grasping-force detectors (in general G01L5/16, G01L5/22)}
- B25J 15/103: {for gripping the object in three contact points}
- B25J 9/1612: {characterised by the hand, wrist, grip control}
- B25J 9/1694: {characterised by use of sensors other than normal servo-feedback from position, speed or acceleration sensors, perception control, multi-sensor controlled systems, sensor fusion}
- B25J 13/085: {Force or torque sensors (B25J13/082, B25J13/084 take precedence)}
- B25J 15/0009: {comprising multi-articulated fingers, e.g. resembling a human hand}
- B25J 15/10: with three or more finger members {(B25J15/0009 takes precedence)}
- G05B 2219/39531: Several different sensors integrated into hand
- G05B 2219/39532: Gripping force sensor build into finger
- G05B 2219/39534: By positioning fingers, dimension of object can be measured
- G05B 2219/39543: Recognize object and plan hand shapes in grasping movements
- G05B 2219/40575: Camera combined with tactile sensors, for 3-D
- B25J: MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES ({manipulators specially adapted for use in surgery A61B34/70; manipulators used in cleaning hollow articles B08B9/04}; manipulators associated with rolling mills B21B39/20; manipulators associated with forging machines B21J13/10; {manipulators associated with picking-up and placing mechanisms B23P19/007}; means for holding wheels or parts thereof B60B30/00; {vehicles with ground-engaging propulsion means, e.g. walking members B62D57/02, B62D57/032; devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials between conveyors B65G47/90, B65G47/91; manipulators with gripping or holding means for transferring packages B65H67/065}; cranes B66C; {manipulators used in the protection or supervision of pipe-line installations F17D5/00; walking equipment adapted for nuclear steam-generators F22B37/006}; manipulators specially adapted for, or associated with, nuclear reactors G21C; {apparatus used for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor H10P72/50})
- G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G)

## Abstract

A hand control apparatus including an extracting unit extracting a grip pattern of an object having a shape closest to that of the object acquired by a shape acquiring unit from a storage unit storing and associating shapes of plural types of objects and grip patterns, a position and posture calculating unit calculating a gripping position and posture of the hand in accordance with the extracted grip pattern, a hand driving unit causing the hand to grip the object based on the calculated gripping position and posture, a determining unit determining if a gripped state of the object is appropriate based on information acquired by at least one of the shape acquiring unit, a force sensor and a tactile sensor, and a gripped state correcting unit correcting at least one of the gripping position and the posture when it is determined that the gripped state of the object is inappropriate.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A hand control apparatus that controls a hand which is provided at a robot including a camera, wherein the hand grips an object using a plurality of fingers each including a force sensor and a tactile sensor, wherein the hand control apparatus is configured to:
extract a grip pattern of the object having a shape closest to a shape of the object acquired by the camera from a storage unit which stores shapes of a plurality of types of the objects and the grip patterns by the hand in association with each other;
calculate a gripping position with respect to the object and posture of the hand in accordance with the grip pattern thus extracted;
cause the hand to grip the object on a basis of the gripping position and the posture which are thus calculated;
determine whether or not a gripped state of the object is appropriate on a basis of information acquired by at least one of the force sensor and the tactile sensor; and
correct at least one of the gripping position and the posture which are thus calculated when it is determined that the gripped state of the object is inappropriate,
wherein, in the storage unit, the shapes of the plurality of types of the objects and elastic moduli are stored and associated with the grip patterns by the hand, and
wherein the hand control apparatus causes the hand to grip the object with gripping force in accordance with an elastic modulus of the object.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The hand control apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the control apparatus is further configured to adjust at least one of gripping stability of the object, operability of the hand, and gripping force of the hand with respect to the object by correcting the gripping position and the posture.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The hand control apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein, in a case where the gripping position or the posture is corrected, a grip pattern based on the corrected gripping position and posture is stored in the storage unit in association with the shape of the object acquired by the camera.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

A hand control system comprising:
a network;
a plurality of the hand control apparatuses according claim 1 connected via the network; and
the storage unit connected to the network.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The hand control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the gripping position or the posture is corrected, a grip pattern based on the corrected gripping position and posture is subsequently stored in the storage unit in association with the shape of the object acquired by the camera.