QB Robotics qb SoftHand RESEARCH User manual

Please read carefully these instructions before use. Do not discard: keep for future reference.
USER GUIDE FOR UNIVERSAL ROBOT

www.qbrobotics.com
Dear customer,
Thank you for purchasing our product.
The present document provides information at best of our knowledge at the time of
publication. This document could present differences from the product and it is subject
to changes without notice: the latest version is available on our webpage
www.qbrobotics.com .
qbrobotics s.r.l. does not assume any responsibility for errors or omissions.
In no case qbrobotics s.r.l. will be responsible for any loss, problems or damages to
persons or property arising from the use of this document.
The qb® logo and qbrobotics® are registered trademarks of qbrobotics s.r.l. The
indications of (R) are omitted.
Release 1.0 08/03/2018

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Summary
1Preface.................................................................................................................................. 2
1.1 Using this document ...................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Symbols and conventions............................................................................................... 2
2Safety.................................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 Safety instructions ......................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Environmental conditions .............................................................................................. 4
2.3 EC Directives on product safety ..................................................................................... 4
3qb SoftHand technical data .................................................................................................. 5
4Getting started...................................................................................................................... 7
4.1 SoftHand mounting........................................................................................................ 7
4.2 cable connections .......................................................................................................... 8
4.3 Software upload to UR controller .................................................................................. 9
4.4 URCap plugin installation ............................................................................................... 9
5Working with qb SoftHand URCap Plugin ........................................................................... 10
6Maintenance and warranty ................................................................................................ 13
7Appendix............................................................................................................................. 14
7.1 Troubleshooting........................................................................................................... 14
7.2 Software uninstallation................................................................................................ 14

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1Preface
1.1 Using this document
The documentation must always be complete and in a perfectly readable state.
Keep the document accessible to the operating and, if necessary, maintenance
personnel at all times.
Pass the document to any subsequent owner or user of the product.
1.2 Symbols and conventions
WARNING: identifies information about practice or
circumstances that can lead to personal injury. Attentions help
you identify a hazard, avoid a hazard, and recognize the
consequence.
Courier text
Identifies file paths, file names and sw functions.

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2Safety
2.1 Safety instructions
WARNING:
•Check that all the contents is intact after removing it
from the packaging.
•Keep away from children and pets. Always set off or
unplug when not in use.
•Never use aerosol products, petroleum based
lubricants or other flammable products on or near the
end-effectors.
•Do not use any damaged power cable, plug, or loose
outlet. It may cause fire or damage to people.
•Make sure the end-effector is properly and securely
bolted in place.
•Do not use if damaged or defective. Do not
disassemble.
•Do not insert any objects between moving parts of the
fingers.
•Keep head and face outside the reach of the end-
effector.
•Do not wear loose clothing or jewelry when working
with the end-effector.
•Disconnect the power supply before cleaning or
maintenance.
•Disrespect of these precautions can affect safety of the
device.

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2.2 Environmental conditions
WARNING:
•Do not keep or operate the end-effector in a place with
high temperature or humidity.
•This product is not waterproof. Never operate the
product in a wet place.
•For indoor use only.
2.3 EC Directives on product safety
•The following EC directives on product safety must be observed.
•If the product is being used outside the UE, international, national and
regional directives must be also observed.
Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC)
Because of their small size, no serious threats to life or physical condition can normally
be expected from electric miniature drivers. Therefore, the Machinery Directive does
not apply to our products. The products described here are not “incomplete
machines”, so installation instructions are not normally issued by qbrobotics.
Low Voltage Directive (2014/35/EU)
The Low Voltage Directive applies for all electrical equipment with a nominal voltage
of 75 to 1500 V DC and 50 to 1000 V AC. The products described in this device manual
do not fall within the scope of this directive, since they are intended for lower voltages.

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3qb SoftHand research technical data
Figure 3.1 shows the overall dimensions of the qb SoftHand research. Electrical and
Mechanical characteristics of the hand are shown, respectively, in Table 3.1 and Table
3.2.
Figure 3.1 qb SoftHand research dimensions.
Electrical data
Nominal Voltage
[V]
24VDC
Power cons.
Nominal
[W]
30
Motionless
[W]
1.4
Current limit
at nominal
conditions
Nominal, Anom
[A]
0.75
Max. operation time
[s]
300
Max. duty cycle
[%]
69
Current limit
at peak
conditions
Peak, Apeak
[A]
1.1
Max. operation time
[s]
20
Max. duty cycle
[%]
56
Table 3.1 Electrical characteristics of the qb SoftHand research.

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Mechanical data
Weight
[Kg]
0.5
fingers
Number
[#]
5
joints
Total
[#]
19
Rigid
[#]
5
Mobile
[#]
14
Motors
DC brushed
[#]
1
Nominal Payload
nom
peak
power grasp
[Kg]
1.7
1.7
pinch grasp
[Kg]
0.83
0.83
hanging
[Kg]
20
20
Max grasp force
power grasp
[N]
62
75
pinch grasp
[N]
11
11
Cycle time
Full closing
[s]
1.1
Full opening
[s]
1.1
Duration
N. of cycles
[#]
50000
Table 3.2 Main mechanical characteristics of the qb SoftHand research. For further details please see the
datasheet.

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4Getting started
The qb SoftHand research UR Kit allows you to connect the qb SoftHand research to
you UR robot arm.
The kit consists of:
•N.1 qb Softhand research 24V (variant pinch or power kinematics);
•N.1 ISO 9409-1-50-4-M6 flange adapter;
•N.1 qb dummy;
•N.1 main cable of 5m;
•N.1 power cable;
•N.1 USB cable of 0.5m;
•N.1 USB pendrive;
•N.4 M6x10 screws;
•N.5 M4x12 screws.
4.1 SoftHand research mounting
Use only the screws provided within the package. Longer screws could damage the
robot or the hand.
External tools needed are:
•2.5mm Allen wrench;
•5mm Allen wrench;
•Torx t15 screwdriver.
Referring to the scheme of Figure 4.1, to assemble the hand on the robot arm, please
follow the instructions:
i. Fasten ISO 9409-1-50-4-M6 flange adapter (2) to the robot tool flange (1)
using n.4 M6x10 screws (3) (use the 5mm Allen wrench);
ii. Insert ISO 9409-1-50-4-M6 flange adapter (2) into the hand wrist interface (5)
on the back of the hand;

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iii. Fasten ISO 9409-1-50-4-M6 flange adapter to the hand wrist interface using
n.5 M4x12 screws (4).
Figure 4.1 SoftHand research assembly scheme on the robot. 1) robot tool flange; 2) ISO 9409-1-50-4-M6
flange adapter; 3) M6x10 screw (n. 4 pcs.); 4) M4x12 screw (n. 5 pcs.); 5) hand wrist interface; 6) SoftHand
research.
4.2 cable connections
Figure 4.2 Scheme of cable connections between the qb SoftHand research and the UR. The blue arrows
are mechanical connections while the green ones are electric. 1) UR control box; 2) qb dummy; 3) control
box plate screws; 4) power cable; 5) USB cable; 6) main cable.

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To connect the hand to the UR’s control box, please follow the instructions:
i. Open one of the two windows that are on the UR control box (1) by loosening
the 4 screws (3) (use the t15 screwdriver);
ii. Insert the qb dummy (2) in the slot opened and fasten it to the control box by
the same screws (3) (use the t15 screwdriver);
iii. Use the power cable (4) to power the qb dummy from the UR’s control box
(1): connect the black cable to the 0V and the red cable to the 24V (see Figure
4.3);
Figure 4.3 detail of the connection of the power cable to the 24V power supply inside the UR control box.
iv. Connect the qb dummy (2) to the USB port of the UR’s controller box (1) by
the USB cable (5);
v. Connect the main cable (6) between the qb dummy (2) and the SoftHand
research.
4.3 Software upload to UR controller
To upload the qb SoftHand URCap plugin insert the USB pendrive into the USB slot of
the Teach Pendant.
4.4 URCap plugin installation
Install the file qbsofthand-2.0.0.urcap from the USB pendrive, following the
procedure indicated in the Par. “URCaps Setup” on the UR User Manual.

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5Working with qb SoftHand URCap Plugin
This Program Node URCap let you send a "percent-position closure command" to the
connected qb SoftHand research, at a given time in your Program.
As it is highlighted in the user interface, this closure value has the following meaning:
•0%: the hand is completely opened;
•...%: the hand is partially closed;
•100%: the hand is completely closed.
During the Program execution, each time this URCap node is reached, the given closure
value reference command is sent to the qb SoftHand research over a RS485 serial
communication channel.
Note: it is recommended to provide enough time for the grasping (i.e. at least a one-
second Wait Child).
Figure 5.1 qb SoftHand URCap Graphical User Interface.

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The description of the qb SoftHand research Graphical User Interface below refers to
numbers of Figure 5.1.
1) Two quick toggles let you set, respectively, the "fully open" configuration (0% closure
value) or the "fully closed" one (100% closure value). Everytime a toggle is pressed on
the teach pendant, the numeric field (2) is set accordingly.
2) The numeric input field shows the current closure value expressed in percentage.
You can change it with any number between 0 and 100 by clicking on it (a numeric pad
will appear on the screen) and the third toggle will be automatically selected if the
given value differs either from 0 or 100.
The system stores the manual selected value to be able to set it again each time the
manual selection toggle is pressed.
3) Four buttons speed up the manual closure value setup. Their behavior is as follows:
•"-": subtracts 1% from the given value;
•"--": subtracts 5% from the given value;
•"+": adds 1% to the given value;
•"++”: adds 5% to the given value.
In any case, the closure value cannot be greater than 100%, nor be smaller than 0%.
4) You can either close the qb SoftHand research to the given closure value (when it
says "test closure") or reopen it (when it says "reopen") to test how the hand actually
behaves and check whether it is suitable for the current task or needs any adjustment.
Refine the value with the quick buttons (3) and test it again until you are confident with
the grasp.
This is can be helpful especially while teaching the robot to perform a task and you
want to be sure that the given closure value fits properly the specific object you need
to grasp.
5) If everything is properly connected, the "reconnect" button should be disabled (i.e.
the qb SoftHand research is connected and powered), and you may even never need
it. However it can happen that the cable is accidentally unplugged during the task

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execution, and a robot reboot would be frustrating. In such a case, you have to
reconnect the qb SoftHand research properly and press the reconnect button; in few
seconds the connection should be restored and you can continue from you were stuck.
Note: each time the URCap is manually opened a connection test is performed: on
failure the Program Node status indicator becomes yellow (and you cannot start your
program execution until the connection is brought back).
6) [optional] If known, the weight of the object to be grasped can be added directly in
this Program Node. This will result in a set_payload() script call with the given
weight plus the qb SoftHand research weight, which it is approximately 0.5Kg.
Note: you should specify only the net weight of the object.

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6Maintenance and warranty
Products of the company qbrobotics s.r.l. are produced using the most modern
production methods and are subject of strict quality inspections. All sales and
deliveries are performed exclusively based on our General Conditions of Sale and
Delivery which can be viewed on the qbrobotics home page www.qbrobotics.com.
The warranty will not be valid in case of tampering with the device or with the
software.
The warranty does not cover parts subject to wear, such as the glove, the motor tendon
and the elastic bands.
For any support request please contact us at the email [email protected].

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7Appendix
7.1 Troubleshooting
Problem: the SoftHand research presents unusual behavior or communication
problems.
Possible solution:
•Check the wiring;
•Make a power cycle:
oIf the hand is connected to the power source of the UR control box,
make a power cycle of the robot;
oIf the hand is connected to an external power source, make a power
cycle of the qb dummy.
For any other issue, please contact [email protected].
7.2 Software uninstallation
To uninstall the URCap plugin please follow the procedure indicated on the UR User
Manual.