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Design and Experiment Investigation on Soft Grippers with Modular Variable Stiffness Structure.
Pengbing Zhao1, Chuan Xiong1, Zheng Gao1
1State Key Laboratory of Electromechanical Integrated Manufacturing of High-Performance Electronic Equipments, Xidian University, Xi'an 710071, China.
Micromachines
|January 23, 2024
Summary
This study introduces a novel modular soft gripper with variable stiffness, overcoming the complexity and interchangeability issues of existing designs. The new gripper offers adaptable and stable grasping for various objects with adjustable stiffness.
Area of Science:
- Robotics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Soft grippers offer adaptability for irregular or fragile objects.
- Enhancing stiffness in soft grippers is crucial, but existing variable stiffness designs are complex and lack interchangeability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a novel soft gripper with modular variable stiffness.
- To address the limitations of complex structures and poor interchangeability in existing variable stiffness soft grippers.
Main Methods:
- Developed a free bending model of the soft actuator using the neo-Hookean model and constant curvature assumption.
- Optimized structural parameters via the Genetic Algorithm.
- Investigated the influence of driving pressure on actuator stiffness and established a variable stiffness mathematical model.
Main Results:
- Verified the statics and stiffness models through experimental testing.
- Demonstrated excellent adaptability and stability for diverse objects.
- Showcased outstanding load-bearing capacity and stiffness adjustability.
Conclusions:
- The proposed modular variable stiffness soft gripper effectively overcomes limitations of previous designs.
- The gripper exhibits superior performance in adaptability, stability, load capacity, and stiffness control.
- This modular design offers a promising solution for advanced robotic grasping applications.
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