Hybrid Jamming for Bioinspired Soft Robotic Fingers

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Soft robotic systems offer advantages in safety and adaptability for manipulation tasks.
• Controlling both shape and stiffness in soft robots remains a significant challenge.
• Jamming-based mechanisms provide a pathway to variable stiffness in soft actuators.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and develop a bioinspired soft robotic finger with integrated layer and particle jamming for enhanced control.
• To investigate the finger's capabilities in bending shape control and variable stiffness.
• To demonstrate the practical application of the soft robotic finger in grasping tasks.

Main Methods:

• A novel finger design combining a fiber-reinforced soft pneumatic actuator with a hybrid jamming substrate.
• The substrate incorporates layer jamming (bones) and particle jamming (joints) for load transfer and interlocking.
• Theoretical analysis of stiffness variation with vacuum levels and experimental validation of shape control and stiffness tuning.

Main Results:

• The proposed soft robotic finger achieved a 5.52 times stiffness enhancement at its primary position.
• Experimental tests confirmed effective bending shape control and stiffness tuning capabilities.
• A gripper fabricated using this design demonstrated successful adaptive grasping and robust holding of various objects.

Conclusions:

• The hybrid jamming principle effectively integrates layer and particle jamming for advanced soft robotic finger functionality.
• The developed soft robotic finger exhibits significant variable stiffness and shape control, crucial for complex manipulation.
• This bioinspired design offers a promising approach for creating versatile soft grippers capable of adaptive and secure object handling.