Vibrations Through a Rotary Joint

The pursuit of this design originated with the idea to embed vibrating surfaces in the phalanges of a multi-fingered robot hand. Such a hand would benefit from finger-gaiting when necessary, while also leveraging the simplicity of vibrating surfaces — akin to quadrupeds with wheels for feet.

However, a hand with voice coil actuators (VCAs) on each phalanx would be incredibly bulky and heavy. Instead, with a proper transmission, each VCA could be embedded in a roomier palm and its vibrations transmitted distally through each rotary joint.

Details on the theory and implementation can be found in the tabs on the left.