Study on the Articulated Finger Based on Pneumatic Soft Joint

This article described a novel pneumatic soft joint used to make articulated soft fingers. This soft joint was designed by improving the basic structure of the fast pneumatic network. The joint was made of high modulus E630 silicon, which can increase the reverse exhaust speed through its high structural elasticity. Aramid fabric was used to restrain the non-working direction of joints to reduce ineffective expansion, thereby reducing air consumption. The kinematics and statics model of the joint was established by the piecewise constant curvature (PCC) method, and the model was proved to be effective. The silicone staging pouring process was used in the manufacture of joints and fingers, which can achieve high-quality product rates. A soft finger actuator composed of three soft joints was designed and manufactured, whose length was 1.3 times the human finger. The finger can nimbly achieve the target motion, and the gripping force of the fingertip can reach 7.1N. The articulated soft finger actuator has applications in soft dextrous hands and soft gripper.

Drawing with numb hands: Dexterity and draughtspuppets

This essay is part of a wider research project that has introduced puppets into the drawing studio. Puppets are odd operators, and this is an unorthodox approach to drawing research. In this case, eccentricity is appropriate given that orthodoxies of skilfulness and good drawing are the subject of investigation. Unlike other contemporary practices that utilize puppetry as subject matter, motif and narrative device, this project invites draughtspuppets to make drawings. These draughtspuppets are distinct from automata and other drawing machines, and these distinctions are outlined. The paper focuses on the virtue and value of dexterity. In drawing and in puppet manipulation, dexterity brings scrutiny to the hands as the primary site of action and queries the relationship between ‘good hands’ and ‘good drawing’. The text begins by connecting traditions of dexterity, manipulation, drawing and puppetry before delving into the essence of puppets – their animism and (semi-)autonomy – and the tacit implications of dextrous hands. This article asks the question: can puppet ontologies expose the value of dexterity as a procedural component of (good) drawing? Connecting a range of puppet scholarship, the author’s interactions with the draughtspuppets and over 25 years of teaching experience, this article finally argues for the productive capacity of draughtspuppets to transform orthodox beliefs about the tenets of dexterity and good drawing. In the final passage, the motifs present in the draughtspuppets’ recent drawings are briefly analysed and correlated with this examination.