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Detachable Robotic Grippers for Human-Robot Collaboration.
Zubair Iqbal1, Maria Pozzi1, Domenico Prattichizzo1,2
1Department of Information Engineering and Mathematics, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Frontiers in Robotics and AI
|July 5, 2021
Summary
Detachable robotic grippers enhance human-robot collaboration by allowing hands to be easily swapped and used independently. This innovation increases flexibility in production cells, enabling new applications beyond traditional industrial robots.
Area of Science:
- Robotics
- Human-Robot Interaction
- Mechatronics
Background:
- Collaborative robots (cobots) offer increased flexibility by working alongside humans.
- Collaborative soft grippers extend human-robot interaction possibilities to robotic end-effectors.
- Current systems often lack the ability for grippers to function independently of the robot arm.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and demonstrate a novel paradigm of detachable robotic grippers.
- To enable robotic grippers to be easily attached/detached from a robot arm and function independently.
- To enhance the versatility and application scope of collaborative grippers.
Main Methods:
- Development of a novel tool changer system specifically designed for collaborative grippers.
- Integration of electromagnets within the tool changer for safe attach/detach operations.
- Utilization of a wearable interface with tactile feedback for controlling electromagnet activation.
Main Results:
- Demonstration of detachable robotic grippers through two illustrative tasks.
- Confirmation that grippers remain active and fully functional after detachment from the robot arm.
- Successful usability evaluation involving 12 human participants.
Conclusions:
- The concept of detachable robotic grippers significantly advances collaborative robotics.
- The developed system provides tool-changer-like benefits with added independent functionality for grippers.
- This approach expands the capabilities of human-robot collaboration and robotic manipulation.
