There was a significant correlation between membrane thickness and perforation rate. The perforation rate was lowest when the thickness was 1.5-2 mm.

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Reconfigurable robotic hands can constitute one of the future trends of dexterous manipulator design, as they can strike a balance between precision, force exertion, flexibility, and adaptability. However, the feasible manipulation workspace of a reconfigurable robotic hand, the metamorphic hand, is complex as the finger operation planes alter with the reconfigurable palm's motions. Different useful workspace approaches and grasp quality metrics have been introduced, but a precision manipulation workspace (PMW) approach for reconfigurable robotic hands has yet to be presented. This paper presents a hand workspace taxonomy based on previous studies, and a new approach to obtaining a PMW of a robotic hand which satisfies three properties: singularity avoidance, interference avoidance, and force-closure. A grasp quality metric, termed the minimum friction coefficient (MFC), is introduced to indicate the force-closure conditions of a robotic hand's configurations. Unlike the previous grasp quality metrics targeting online grasp planning tasks, this MFC-based measure focuses on the offline design of robotic hands. This method is essential for conducting grasp planning, design optimization, and actuation reduction for reconfigurable robotic hands. Further, the approach is applied to a three-fingered metamorphic hand, and the results are studied thoroughly.

As the top award in the field of machine design, the ASME Machine Design Award enjoys its prestige and prominence. In the past 62 years since 1958 when the award was established, a total of 59 eminent scholars received this honor. This paper is to review this prestigious award, present all 59 recipients with their prominent contributions to the field, and acts as a document for preserving the history. Reviewing these awards in the past 62 years and following the tracks of these recipients, one can see the development in the field. In particular, novel contributions and great establishments in the field of mechanical engineering and in the machine design and development could be seen from the tracks of the awards. This will help other fields who are interested in the study of mechanical engineering and in the historical development of the mechanical engineering.