A vacuum-driven rubber-band gripper

Robotic grippers that gently handle objects of various shapes are required for various applications these days. Conventional finger-shaped grippers are multifunctional and can grip various objects; however, grasping an item without slippage requires planning the positioning of the fingers at appropr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ROBOMECH journal 2021-04, Vol.8 (1), p.1-12, Article 16
Main Authors: Yamada, Ko, Mitsuda, Takashi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Artificial Intelligence
Coils
Computational Intelligence
Control and Systems Theory
Engineering
Fingers
Flexible structure
Gripper
Grippers
Mechatronics
Pneumatic actuator
Research Article
Robot hand
Robotics and Automation
Rubber
Soft robot
Sponges
Vacuum-driven gripper
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Summary:Robotic grippers that gently handle objects of various shapes are required for various applications these days. Conventional finger-shaped grippers are multifunctional and can grip various objects; however, grasping an item without slippage requires planning the positioning of the fingers at appropriate locations on the item. Hence, a ring-shaped soft gripper that coils itself around objects like a rubber band is suggested in this paper. The proposed gripper comprises a soft tube containing laminated sponges interleaved with plastic sheets. Evacuation of the air within the sponges shrinks them and decreases the diameter of the ring, thereby allowing the gripper to firmly hold objects. The gripper is therefore flexible enough to coil around objects of various shapes without gaps. Furthermore, the rigidity of the compressed sponges inside the gripper prevents wobbling of the gripped objects. The air within the gripper can be used to adjust the gripping force. The minimum diameter of the gripper after evacuating the air within the sponges is approximately one-fourth of the original diameter. Thus, the proposed gripper is expected to be used in various applications as it automatically conforms to the different shapes while simply gripping objects gently and securely.
ISSN:2197-4225
2197-4225
DOI:10.1186/s40648-021-00203-7