CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Animatronics was developed by Walt Disney in the early sixties. Essentially,

an animatronics puppet is a figure that is animated by means of electromechanical devices.
Animatronics is the cross between the animation and the electronics. Basically, Animatronics
is the mechanized puppet. It can be remotely controlled or preprogrammed. The abbreviated
term originally coined by the Walt Disney as Audio. Animatronics is a subset of anthropo-
morphic robots which are designed drawing inspiration from nature. The humanoid robots will
be equipped with anthropomorphic multi fingered hands very much like the human hand. We
call this a humanoid hand robot. Humanoid hand robots will eventually supplant human labor
in the execution of intricate and dangerous tasks in areas such as manufacturing, space, the
seabed, and so on. Further, the anthropomorphic hand will be provided as a prosthetic
application for handicapped individuals. Many multi fingered robot hands (e.g., the Stanford–
JPL hand by Salisbury et al., the Utah/MIT hand by Jacobsen et al., the JPL four-fingered hand
by Jau , and the Anthrobot hand by Kyriakopoulos et al. Robonaut hand by lovchik, Gifu
hand by Jacobsen and Kawasaki ) have been developed. These robot hands are driven by
actuators that are located in a place remote from the robot hand frame and connected by tendon
cables.. The elasticity of the tendon cable causes inaccurate joint angle control, and the long
wiring of tendon cables may obstruct the robot motion when the hand is attachedto the tip of
the robot arm. Moreover, these hands have been problematic commercial products, particularly
in terms of maintenance, due to their mechanical complexity. A mechanicalarm is robotic,
usually programmable, with similar functions to a human arm. The links of such a manipulator
are connected by joints allowing either rotational motion (such as in an articulated robot) or
translational (linear) displacement. The links of the manipulator can be considered to form a
kinematic chain. The business end of the kinematic chain of the manipulator is called the
end effecter and it is analogous to the human hand. The end effecter can be designed to
perform any desired task such as welding, gripping, spinning etc., depending on the
application.

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1.1 Animatronics Hand design
The Utah/MIT hand shown in figure was developed by the Center for
Engineering Design at the University of Utah and the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1985. It was intended to function as a general
purpose research tool for the study of machine dexterity (Jacobsen, etc., 1986). The Utah/MIT
hand has the same size as the human’s hand. It has four fingers (three fingers and a thumb) in a
very anthropomorphic configuration. Each finger has four degrees of freedom and can move at
five times of human speed, including the grip of a firm handshake. There are totally 17 links
(1 on the wrist, 4 on each of the 4 fingers) on the Utah/MIT hand. Among them, 16 joints on the
fingers have degrees of freedom. Their bending and extension are controlled by cable driven by
pneumatic pistons, which is integrated into the hand. By utilizing the finger tendon forces the
grasp can react, to some degree, to the object being grasped. On the Utah/MIT hand, there are
antagonistic tendons for each finger joint. The antagonistic tendons and the large amount of
coupling between finger joints have complicated the work on the Utah/MIT hand (Jacobsen et
al 1986). There are 4 kinds of sensors on the hand, motor position sensors, joint position
sensors, tendon tension sensors and tactile array sensors. According to the signals detected,
movement of the hand can be illustrated.

Fig 1.1 utah/MIT hand

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 1.2 NASA Hand (Robonaut Hand)
The NASA hand was designed in 1999 by C.S. Lovchik in Robotics Technology
Branch of NASA Johnson Space Center and M.A. Diftler in Automation and Robotics
Department of Lock Corporation. It was developed for space extravehicular activity (EVA) use.
It is close in size and capability to a suited astronaut’s hand (Lovchik 1999). This five finger
hand combined with its integrated wrist and forearm has fourteen independent degrees of
freedom. It consists of a forearm which houses the motors and drive electronics, a two degree
of freedom wrist, and a five finger, twelve degree of freedom hand. The forearm, measures four
inch- es in diameter at its base and is approximately eight inches long. It houses all fourteen
motors, 12 separate circuit boards, and all of the wiring for the hand. The dexterous finger set
consists of two 3 degree of freedom fingers (pointer and index) and a 3 degree of freedom
opposable thumb. The grasping set consists of two, 1 degree of freedom fingers (ring and
pinkie) and a palm degree of freedom. All of the fingers are shock mounted into the palm.
Over- all the hand is equipped with forty-three sensors not including tactile sensing. Each joint
is equipped with embedded absolute position sensors and each motor is equipped with
incremental encoders (Lovchik 1999). The Utah/MIT hand has antagonistic tendons for each
finger joint on the hand, but on NASA hand thereis just one tendon sensor for each finger. This
reduces the amount of coupling between finger joints which complicated the Utah/MIT hand.
Figure 2 shows the working NASA hand.

Fig 1.2 NASA Hand

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 1.3 GIFU Hand
The Gifu hand was designed in 2001 by Jacobsen and Kawasaki at Gifu University
and is highly anthropomorphic with the total size of thumb, four modular fingers, and palm
being only slightly larger than the human hand. Each of the fingers has four joints with the
thumb providing four DOFs and each finger providing three DOFs. With a bandwidth greater
than that of the human hand, the Gifu hand provides an excellent test bed for controls research.

Fig 1.3 GIFU hand

An overview of the developed anthropomorphic robot hand called Gifu hand is shown above in
Fig. 1.3 The right and left hands are symmetrically designed and each has a thumb and four
fingers. The design mechanisms of the thumb and fingers are shown.The structure of the hand is
shown. The servomotors and joints are numbered from the palm to the fingertip. The thumb has
4 joints with 4 DOF and each of the fingers has 4 joints with 3 DOF. The movement of the first
joint of the thumb and of the fingers allows adduction and abduction, and that of the second joint
to the fourth joint allows ante flexion and retro flexion. The main difference between the thumb
and the fingers is that the fourth joint of the fingers is actuated by the third servomotor through a
planar four-bars linkage mechanism. The Gifu Hand is aimed to be used as a platform of robot hands
for robotics research.

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 CHAPTER 2

METHODOLOGY

Wireless animatronic hand is basically a robotic hand which is implemented by using a

latest wireless technology. Intension of this product is to help/get involved in many of the
industries where human hand is must to complete the required task; but it may harm human skin
or bones. Here, instead of using actual human hand, we can replace it by this wireless robotic
hand. We may allow this robotic hand to complete the same task so that the risk will be avoided
and obviously, required task can be achieved. For example, during bomb diffusing operation in
defense field, this Animatronic hand can be mounted on a moving platform along with a camera
to diffuse the bomb from a safer distance without any harm to human life . Also this hand can
help dumb and deaf people to interact with sign languages. The sign language instructions can be
stored in the microcontroller and this hand can easily interact with dumb and deaf people. Also
this hand can help paralysis patients who can’t move their hand by proving a electronic hand
which can work on voice commands of the bearer and enables the user perform various tasks like
grab something, switch on something etc. This project intends to implement an affordable
electronic product known as wireless animatronics hand based on wireless technology based on
Xbee module as well as Arduino UNO board. Arduino-UNO is a microcontroller board which
has on-board microcontroller ATmega-328. It has total 14 pins including analog and digital pins.
There are 6 PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) output pins on this board. Also, it has 6 analog
inputs, a USB connection, a power jack, a 16 MHz ceramic capacitor, an ICSP header and a reset
button. Basically there are two main parts of this project i.e. transmitter (Control glove) and
receiver (mechanical electronic robotic hand).Both parts interact with each other using wireless
communication. Control glove mainly consists of flex sensors. There are total five flex sensors
placed separate lyon each finger on the glove. Human hand will control another robotic hand; so
that it is called as a control glove. Future efforts would be made to make this hand more flexible,
more precise and moveable from one place to another..

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2.1 Operation

There is a control glove which has a flex sensors mounted on it. The flex sensors
are the special sensors which calculate the change in resistance when they bend. When control
glove is bend- ing the flex sensor changes its value. This value is an analogue value which is
given to microcontroller. The microcontroller con- verts the input analogue signal into digital
signal. This digital value is transmitted wirelessly through RF transmitter. On the receiver side
this digital signal is received by the RF receiver which is then given to microcontroller
connected to servos on animatronic hand and the animatronic hand functions just as the
movement of the pled joints may be more difficult than controlling the finger made with all
independent joints, in terms of grasping and manipulation. However, the finger made with
coupled joints, which has more links than the finger made with independent joints, can grasp
and manipulate more objects of various shapes than the finger made with fewer links. This is
due to the fact that the area for grasping in the finger made with coupled joints is larger than
that of the grasp- ing area of the finger made with fewer links. Therefore, coupling will
augment the dexterity of the hand. The number of joints and number of DOF of the robot hand
were designed to mimic those of the human hand. The thumb is actuated by one servomotors
and the fingers actuated by four servomotors. The fourth joint of the fingers are driven by the
third servomotor through a planar four- bar linkage mechanism. The first joint and the second
joint of human finger cross almost orthogonally at one point. Hence, the hand was designed
such that the first joint and the second joint of each finger cross orthogonally at one point by
means of an asymmetrical differential gear. Moreover, the asymmetrical differential gear
enables the second joint axis to be placed near the surface of the palm, which makes an effect
to resemble a finger motion of the human. The control glove has flex sensors which detects the
movements of fingers and accordingly electronic hand perform the required tasks. This
animatronic hand is able to be controlled according to the controller’s . It is capable of moving
at the required degrees of freedom. It can also pick up things upto to minimum desired weight.
We can use it as shadow hand of ours which is of various use. With the help of sensors this
hand can provide detailed telemetry, which can be exploited to generate innovative
manipulation, control systems, or to provide detailed understanding of the external
environment.

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2.2 Hardware design and description

Transmitter

Fig 2.1 Transmitter Hand

Receiver

Fig 2.2 Receiver Hand

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2.3 Flex sensor

These devices are used to measure the bending in the finger by change in the
resistance. As the bending angle increases , the resistance increases and this variable resistance
is converted into voltage by a voltage divider network and given to ADC for digital
conversion.

Fig 2.3 Control glove with flex sensors, microcontroller and RFtransmitter

Fig 2.4 Animatronic hand with microcontroller and RF receiver

The thumb of the human hand can move in opposition to the fingers. Dexterity of the human
hand in object manipulation is caused by this opposability. The robot hand was designed such
that it has an opposable thumb.

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2.4 Arduino uno

Arduino uno is atmega-328 microcontroller based .It is very simple and power full board
with ISP mode. . It has total 14 pins including analog and digital pins. There are 6 PWM(Pulse
Width Modulation) output pins on this board. Also, it has 6 analog inputs, a USB connection, a
power jack, a 16 MHz ceramic capacitor, an ICSP header and a reset button.

Fig 2.5 Arduino hardware

2.5 Xbee Wireless Module

The world-renowned XBee module is part of a family of cellular modems and RF
modules that provide ultimate flexibility for IoT application developers, with three
programmable form factors, and a range of popular wireless protocols. The XBee family also
includes IoT gateways and management tools to connect, monitor and manage your XBee
network. XBEE is a wireless communication module that Digi built to the 802.15.4/Zigbee
standards. These modules use the IEEE 802.15.4 networking protocol for fast point-to-
multipoint or peer-to-peer networking.

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2.6 Servo motor
A rotary actuator that allows for a precise control of velocity, acceleration as
well as an angular position is known as a servomotor. Servomotor is a motor suitable for use
in a closed loop control system. It includes suitablemotor coupled to a sensor to get a position
feedback. To handle the finger movements and rotations, micro servo motors are being used
in this project.

Fig 2.6 Servo motor 10k torque Fig 2.7 servo motor connection

For easy attachment to the robot arm, the robot hand was designed such that all joints
are driven by built-in dc servomotors with a rotary encoder. To produce a high stiff hand,
the transmission system was created by using high stiff gears such as a satellite gear and a face
gear instead of low stiff gears such as a harmonic drive gear, and without using tendon cable.
Wiring is important in robotic mechanisms. All of the wires in the motor, force sensor, and
tactile sensor should not prevent object manipulation by the robot hand. We designed all of the
wires to be located along the back of each finger and palm. The hard wire used in the
commercialized force sensor was changed to a soft wire, so as not to cause an external force
to arise due to motion in the hard wire. There are many sense organs in the human hand. These
permit the human hand to manipulate an object dexterously. It is expected that more tactile
sensors enable more dexterous manipulations. The robot hand was designed to be mounted
with a developed distributed tactile sensor with 624 detecting points.

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 CHAPTER 3
SOFTWARE AND FINGER ASSEMBLY
The Arduino runs a simplified version of the C programming language, with
some extensions for accessing the hardware. All Arduino instructions are one line. The
board can hold a program hundreds of lines long and has space for about 1,000 two-byte
variables. The Arduino executes programs at about 300,000 source code lines per sec.
Programs are created in the Arduinodevelopment environment and then downloaded tothe
Arduino board. Code must be entered in the proper syntax which means using valid
command names and a valid grammar for each code line. The compiler will catch and flag
syntax errors before download. Sometimes the error messagecan be cryptic and you have to
do a bit of hunting because the actual error occurred before what was flagged. Style refers to
our own particular style for creating code and includes layout, conventions for using case,
headers, and use of comments. All code must follow correct syntax, but there are many
different styles we can use.

3.1 Serial begin

This section covers the small set of commands we needed to make the Arduino being
operated properly. Sets the data rate in bits per second (baud) for serial data transmission. For
communicating with the computer, use one of these rates : 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600,
14400,19200, 28800, 38400, 57600, or 115200. You can however, specify other rates - for
example, to communicate over pins 0 and 1 with a component that requires a particular baud
rate. An optional second argument configures the data, parity, and stop bits. The default is 8
data bits ,one stop bit ,no parity bit.

3.2 Servo attach

Attach the Servo variable to a pin. Note that in Arduino 0016 and earlier, the Servo library
supports only servos on only two pins: 9 and 10. a variable of type Servo pin: thenumber of the
pin that the servo is attached to the pulse width, in microseconds, corresponding to the minimum
(0-degree) angle onthe servo (defaults to 544). The pulse width, in microseconds, corresponding
to the maximum (180-degree) angle on the servo (defaults to 2400).

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3.3 pin mode
Configures the specified pin to behave either as an input or an output.This command,
which goes in the setup() function, is used to set the direction of a digital I/O pin. Set the pin to
OUTPUT if the pin is driving and LED, motor or other device. Set the pin to INPUT if the pin is
reading a switch or other sensor. On power up or reset, all pins default to inputs.

3.4 Serial print

The Serial.print command lets you see what's going on inside the Arduino from
your computer.For example, we can see the result of a math operation to determine if you are
getting the rightnumber. Or, we can see the state of a digital input pin to see if the Arduino is a
sensor or switchproperly. When our interface circuits or program does not seem to be working,
use the Serial.print command to shed a little light on the situation. For this command to show
anything,you need to have the Arduino connected to thehost computer with the USB cable. For
the command to work, the command Serial.begin(9600) must be placed in the setup() function.
After the program is uploaded, we must open the Serial Monitor window to see the response.

3.5 Analog Read

Reads the value from the specified analog pin. The Arduino board contains a 6
channel(8 channels on the Mini and Nano, 16 on the Mega), 10-bit analog to digital converter.
This means that it will map input voltages between 0 and 5 volts into integer values between 0
and 1023. This yields a resolution between readings of: 5 volts / 1024 units or, .0049 volts (4.9
mV) per unit. It takes about 100 microseconds (0.0001 s) to read an analog input, so the
maximum reading rate is about 10,000 times a second.

3.6 Finger assembly

We used plastic hollow pipes to construct the finger parts. When assembling the
fingers, we made sure that the parts were oriented correctly before gluing. Also, we made make
sure to re-drill the holes on the finger parts so the 3mm screws will act as hinge pins without
causing friction. Then we connected the part using a string and screws.

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 Fig 3.1 finger assembly
3.7 Servo bed construction
We have used a wooden piece to make the servo bed. Here in the bed we made 5 servo
motors to beheld perfectly within the bed. It’s just kind of a bed for the servos. Later we have to
put the strings to connect the servo with each other. Here is the construction figure shown below

Fig 3.2 Servo bed construction

3.8 Adding the strings
Adding the strings is by far the hardest and most tedious part of this project. It's
simple in concept, but difficult to actually execute. Threading the fingers takes patience

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remember that. The one difference between my installation of the strings and I used hot glue.
To me, hot glue is more adjustable when calibrating each finger because it can be easily
melted and re-hardened. We connected the servo motor in a way we could move our fingers
with the exact comfort and flexibility. For that we calibrated the servo motors to connect the
strings with the exact process.

Fig 3.3 Adding the strings with servos

Fig 3.4 servo wiring with arduino

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 CHAPTER 4
WIRING AND APPLICATIONS
The servo motor which we have mounted on the wrist for its movement .Then its
control (orange) wire was first connected with the PWM pin 4. After that we connected its red
and black (power) wire of the servo with a small solder-less bread board. We also connected a
Potentiometer in series with the power wires. We connected the positive and the ground wire of
the POT in series with the power wires of the servo and connected the variable resistive wire
of the POT with an analog pin of the ARDUINO.

4.1 Thump construction

We used aluminium plate and a piece ofplastic glass for the thump construction.
The larger portion of the wrist(Top surface) has been constructed with aluminium plate and
has been threaded using threading machine. The rest of the wrist has been constructed using a
plastic glass plate with which we assembled the 5 fingers using super glue and screws keeping
the comfortable position of the fingers in mind. The larger portion of the wrist(Top surface)
has been constructed with aluminium plate and has been threaded using threading machine.
The rest of the wrist has beenconstructed using a plastic glass plate.

4.2 Joining the fingers with the Thump

We assembled the 5 fingers with the plastic glass made portion of the
wrist using super glue and screws. According to the following pictures we tried to
join all the fingers keeping comfort area and the top and bottom view of the fingers
in mind.

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 Fig 4.1 joining the fingers with thump
We used a bread board here to construct a particular circuit for the operation of 16 k
torque servo motor for the control over the total hinge of the hand as shown in below figure 4.3.

Fig 4.2 wiring of wrist servo motor with breadboard

4.3 Calibrating the flex sensors

The sensor is simply a variable resistor that changes its resistance in response to
how much it is bent. The way that the device works is based on its construction. The sensor has
a backplane of a thin plastic polymer that can easily bend

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 Fig 4.3 Calibrating the flex sensors

The bend sensor consists of a coated substrate, such as plastic, that changes in electrical
conductivity as it is bent. This provides non-mechanical reliability in electronic sensing and actuator
technology. On top of this polymer is a layer of carbon that forms a resistor (which connects between the
two metal terminals on the left side).On top of the carbon are equally sized and spaced squares of metal
which are glued in place at their centers to the backplane. When the device is bent the spaces between the
metal plates grows larger and thus the amount of carbon resistor shorted out by each metal square is
reduced. When that happens the resistance of the sensor goes up. The response of the sensor is very
linear over its flexible range. The sensor can only reliably indicate bending in one direction (into the page
as it is pictured here). The response of the sensor is very linear over its flexible range. The sensor can
only reliably indicate bending in one direction.

The sensors, we used the sensor with ARDUINO MEGA we fed the +5volt D.C as we had a lot
of problems getting reliable readings from the sensor at first.. power supply voltage from ARDUINO
into one side of the sensor and then measured the voltage on the other side of the sensor using the
yellow "analog in" jack on ARDUINO. Since the device is simply a variable resistor the voltage drop
across the resistor changes with the amount of bend the sensor undergoes.To calibrate the sensor we
simply created "our own sensor" profile under ARDUINO programming software and used the on
screen volt meter to create a two point calibration at zero and at 50% (90 degrees) ofbend.

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 Fig 4.4 direction of flex sensor

4.4 Testing the servos

At this point, the servos should already be mountedinto the forearm. To connect them to
the power supply and Arduino. We used a small solderless breadboard. Connected each positive
wire of the servo (usually red) to one of the rails on the breadboard, and the negative side of
them (usually black or brown) to another rail. I should be remembered to connect the negative
rail on the breadboard to the Arduino other GND: All the GNDs in a circuit need to be connected
for it to work. The +VCC can be different, but the GNDs need to be the same. We used a small
solder-less breadboard. Connected each positive wire of the servo (usually red) to one of the rails
on the breadboard, and the negative side of them (usually black or brown) to another rail.

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 Fig 4.5 Testing the servos

4.5 Applications of Animatronics

1. It can be used as a powerful aid for the physically challenged.
2. Can be used for diffusion of Bombs where there is a high riskof lives.

3. Can be used in space for repairs of space station.

4. For use in Chemical industries for safety point ofview to human hand.
5. As a part of Humanoid robot to perform varioustasks.
6. In medical field for physically challenged patients.
7. For use in Robots that help deaf and dumb inchatting with sign language.
8. For Military use in bomb diffusing .
9. Its a research project for the humanoid robotic.
10. Can also be used for household applications.

Fig 4.6 picture representation of animatronics hand

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 CONCLUSION
In this paper, we focused on the mechanical characteristics of hands, without treatment of
sensing, controls, electronics, and power requirements and techniques. Since a hand, like any
other tool, has many uses, sufficient performance for one application might not be appropriate
for another. It is therefore difficult to establish exact mechanical and performance requirements.
Ultimately the selection of hand characteristics and specification is a choice between tradeoffs in
complexity, dexterity (achievable grasps), weight, and control methods. We are glad that we
chose to complete this project on the Arduino. It was our first real coding experience on this
platform, and we can say that compared to writing C++, writing Wiring libraries for Arduino
makes for a much more fun andProductive experience We are grateful that our time on the C++
taught us a lot about what is happening behind the scenes, but quiet honestly it is nice to not
have to worry about it so much. One thing we learned from this project is that servos and flex
sensors in positioning, timing and environmental texture can lead to all sorts of undesirable
readings. We were a bit disappointed with the performance of the SG90 servos in thisparticular
use case, It required a lot of the fine-tuning to get readings accurate as the servo rotated.With
more time and resources put for things like motors and base design we can carry a much larger
payload and have a sturdier platform to carry things in. Much of this project could be used or
improved upon by future ECE students. Digital camera can be placed on the robotic hand which
will record the motions of a hand if a robotic hand is at a long distance. Besides increasing the
functions and stability of the hand rehabilitation device, a virtual environment could be
developed to increase the interactivity of the stroke patient and the rehabilitation device. It can
also crease fun for the patient and increase the rehabilitation efficiency potentially.

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 BIBLOGRAPHY

The Absolute Beginner's Guide toArduino

http://forefront.io/a/beginners-guide-to-arduino

1. Principles of Robotics http://www.g9toengineering.com/resources/robotics.htm

2.Servo Motor | Servo Mechanism | Theory and Working Principle

http://www.electrical4u.com/servo-motor- servo-mechanism-theory-and-working- principle/

3. DC Servo Motors | Theory of DC ServoMotor

http://www.electrical4u.com/dc-servo-motors-theory-and-working-principle/
4. Introduction to Servo Motors http://mechatronics.mech.northwestern.edu
/design_ref/actuators/servo_motor_intro.ht
ml

5. DIY Robotic Hand Controlled by aGlove and Arduino

by dschurman http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY- Robotic-Hand-Controlled-by-a-
Glove-and-Arduino/.

6. Animatronics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animatronics

7. Simple Servo Bed for InMoov http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:65274

8.AniHand - Animatronic Hand http://letsmakerobots.com/node/34639

9.Calibrator: An Arduino library to calibrate sensors hooked to analog inputs

http://julianvidal.com/blog/calibrator-an-arduino-library-to-calibrate-sensors-
hooked-to-analog-inputs/
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10.Arduino - Begin. http://arduino.cc/en/Serial/begin

11.Arduino learning pdf

http://www.ele.uri.edu/courses/ele205/Arduino%20-%20Learning.pdf

12.Arduino MicrocontrollerGuide
http://www.me.umn.edu/courses/me2011/arduino/arduinoGuide.pdf

13.Arduino functions http://playground.arduino.cc/Code/Function

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