Fabric-based soft grippers capable of selective distributed bending for assistance of daily living tasks

Pham H. Nguyen, Saivimal Sridar, Sunny Amatya, Carly M. Thalman, Panagiotis Polygerinos

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper presents two designs of soft grippers able to mount on a Soft-Poly Limb to enable user assistance in manipulation tasks during activities of daily living. The grippers are composed of soft actuators made with high-strength inflatable fabrics, offering variable range of compliance, lightweight designs, and high strength-to-weight ratios. Their motion is achieved based on selective distributed bending, which allows joints to form along any point of the length of the grippers. In particular, the designs of an opposing multi-fingered gripper and a bio-inspired continuum gripper are explored. Furthermore, the introduction of a rotational wrist joint, which converts bending motion of a soft actuator array to rotational motion is utilized to control orientation of the aforementioned grippers. Through series of qualitative and quantitative evaluations the fabricated grippers are found capable of both high-strength pinch and power grasping enabling reliable manipulation of objects encountered in daily living tasks.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationRoboSoft 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages404-409
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781538692608
DOIs
StatePublished - May 24 2019
Event2019 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics, RoboSoft 2019 - Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Duration: Apr 14 2019Apr 18 2019

Publication series

NameRoboSoft 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics

Conference

Conference2019 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics, RoboSoft 2019
Country/TerritoryKorea, Republic of
CitySeoul
Period4/14/194/18/19

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Materials Science (miscellaneous)
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Control and Optimization

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