Sony patents robot hand that senses how it grips objects
Sony has been granted a patent for a robot hand system that uses soft, curved pads on its fingertips to sense how it is holding an item. By measuring how these pads shift, the system calculates the exact angle of contact to help the robot adjust its grip.
In the filing’s own words
A gripping control device according to the present disclosure includes: a detector that detects displacement in a normal direction of each of a plurality of elastic bodies each having a curved surface shape, the plurality of elastic bodies provided for each of a plurality of fingertips that is in contact with a gripped object; and a calculation section that calculates a contact surface normal of each of the fingertips to the gripped object on the basis of a result of detection by the detector.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A gripping control device comprising: circuitry configured to calculate displacement in a normal direction of each of a plurality of elastic bodies each having a curved surface shape, the plurality of elastic bodies provided for each of a plurality of fingertips of a gripping device that is in contact with a gripped object; calculate a contact surface normal of each of the plurality of fingertips to the gripped object by approximating a spatial distribution of the plurality of the displacements in the normal direction to a plane to determine an inclination of a contact surface of each of the plurality of fingertips relative to a coordinate axis of the fingertips, the contact surface normal being calculated based on the determined inclination; and control the gripping device using the calculated contact surface normal of each of the plurality of fingertips to the gripped object.
Facts
- Company
- Sony (Sony Group Corporation)
- Official title
- Gripping control device and gripping control method
- Patent number
- US12734683B2
- Application number
- 18697732
- Filed
- Aug 22, 2022
- Granted
- Sep 15, 2026
- Inventors
- 2
- Claims
- 21
Classified under
B25J 9/1612 Operations & transportB25J 13/082 Operations & transportB25J 13/084 Operations & transportB25J 15/0033 Operations & transportMore from Sony in Robots & automation
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.