Powerful UAV manipulation via bioinspired self-adaptive soft self-contained gripper.

Area of Science:

• Robotics and Automation
• Materials Science
• Aerospace Engineering

Background:

• Existing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) grippers face challenges in adaptability, weight, and control.
• A need exists for soft, self-adaptive, self-contained, easily controlled, and lightweight grippers for UAV manipulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and design a novel class of soft grippers for UAVs inspired by plant tendrils.
• To enable self-adaptive grasping capabilities for UAVs, overcoming limitations of current manipulation systems.

Main Methods:

• Designed two types of U-shaped soft eccentric circular tube actuators (UCTAs) based on winding deformation.
• Utilized a liquid-gas phase-transition mechanism for actuating the UCTAs.
• Constructed two distinct soft grippers by cross-arranging UCTAs for delicate and strong grasping.

Main Results:

• Developed voltage-driven, self-contained soft grippers with self-adaptive grasping capabilities.
• Demonstrated two gripper types: one for delicate grasping (tendril-inspired) and one for strong grasping (hook-inspired).
• Achieved grippers that are lightweight, easy to control, and suitable for UAV deployment.

Conclusions:

• The proposed soft grippers offer a viable solution for enhancing UAV manipulation capabilities.
• These grippers facilitate powerful manipulation with low positioning accuracy and adaptable grasping across diverse environments.
• The novel design paves the way for advanced UAV applications requiring dexterous and robust grasping.