A 3D-Printed Fin Ray Effect Inspired Soft Robotic Gripper with Force Feedback

Abstract

Soft robotic grippers are able to carry out many tasks that traditional rigid-bodied grippers cannot perform but often have many limitations in terms of control and feedback. In this study, a Fin Ray effect inspired soft robotic gripper is proposed with its whole body directly 3D printed using soft material without the need of assembly. As a result, the soft gripper has a light weight, simple structure, is enabled with high compliance and conformability, and is able to grasp objects with arbitrary geometry. A force sensor is embedded in the inner side of the gripper, which allows the contact force required to grip the object to be measured in order to guarantee successful grasping and to provide the most suitable gripping force. In addition, it enables control and data monitoring of the gripper’s operating state at all times. Characterization and grasping demonstration of the gripper are given in the Experiment section. Results show that the gripper can be used in a wide range of scenarios and applications, such as the service robot and food industry.

High-Payload and Self-Adaptive Robotic Hand With 1-Degree-of-Freedom Translation/Rotation Switching Mechanism

“…Raymond et al developed a tendon-driven robotic hand in which finger links were connected via compliant joints for self-adaptive grasping [3][4]. Robotic hands based on a fin-ray structure composed of deformable and flexible materials provide a self-adaptive grasping function [5] [6]. Pneumatic soft robotic hands also exhibit selfadaptability [7][8] [9].…”

“…Under conditions of ( 9) and ( 10), the drive shaft translates in the 𝑥𝑥 𝐴𝐴 direction with slippage on the threaded surface, similar to the screw-driving mechanism. If we assume that 𝑓𝑓 𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑒 is sufficiently small, then based on (2), ( 5), (6), and ( 8), ( 9) and ( 10) can be expressed as…”

Intelligent Soft Robotic Grippers for Agricultural and Food Product Handling: A Brief Review with a Focus on Design and Control

“…However, due to the bulkiness and expense of this equipment, it is challenging to precisely control the pressure or flow rate of air inside each actuator and achieve desired motions for various tasks. A more effective method is to implement a closed-loop control system based on external variables such as strain, [57,170] force, [185,186] and flex. [56,187,188] For fluidic-driven actuators, sensor-based closed-loop control yields higher performance, since the relationship between deformation status (e.g., bending, grasping, inflating, deflating) and activation source has been thoroughly investigated.…”

GelSight Fin Ray: Incorporating Tactile Sensing into a Soft Compliant Robotic Gripper

“…Despite the progress made towards optimizing the Fin Ray finger design, not much work has been done to sensorize it. Although Yang et al proposed a Fin Ray finger that incorporates an embedded force sensor for detecting the finger state and to measure contact force [16], it does not provide the higher-detailed tactile sensing necessary for more complex manipulation tasks.…”

“…Until recently, most research has been focused on the mechanical behavior of Fin Ray fingers; there is very limited work done on integrating Fin Rays with sensors. Yang et al embedded pressure force sensors inside of Fin Ray fingers [14]. Xu et al realized intrinsic force sensing with a camera and a neural network to estimate forces using displacements [12].…”