Abstract
The paper presents the development and testing of an adaptive robotic end-effector used for manipulation of sensitive objects such as fruits and vegetables. The end-effector uses Fin-Ray-structured 3D-printed fingers with embedded conductive 3D-printed sensing circuits, which give the end-effector capacitive touch sensing and bend sensing capabilities. The conductive 3D-printed circuit is connected to a control circuit consisting of a low-current DC power source and a microcontroller. As the end-effector finger is subjected to various forces and other external stimuli, changes in the electric signals that run through the conductive circuit of the end-effector finger are detected by the microcontroller. The electric signal is processed in order to provide real-time information about contact detection, finger position or gripping force. This information was used for process monitoring purposes and as feedback for the end-effector actuator.
Highlights
Research in the field of additive manufacturing (AM) focused recently on improving materials and processes. Processes, such as PolyJet, allowing the build of realistic multi-color, multi-materials parts [1] were developed for use in many fields, especially for visualization, marketing or training purposes, but improvements were as well brought to the existing AM processes in terms of accuracy, resolution, reproducibility, adaptability to new materials, printed part quality and mechanical properties [2]
The approach taken by the authors uses novel conductive polymers to create electrically conductive circuits which are integrated in end-effector parts using multi-material 3D printing
The conductive circuit printed with an angular orthogonal pattern is preffered over the one that is parallel with the length of the part as the experiment show a bigger drop in resistance
Summary
Research in the field of additive manufacturing (AM) focused recently on improving materials and processes. The possibility to 3D print intelligent end-effectors that can adapt to objects’ shapes and dimensions, similar to a human hand, opens new perspectives in manipulating, for instance, sensitive or irregular objects like fruits or vegetables, as the universal gripper based on jamming granular material [6] does. In this context, this study is focused on developing and testing an endeffector with three 3D-printed fingers based on Fin-Ray structures [7-8]. The use of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) process for manufacturing end-effector fingers with embedded conductive sensing Circuits already proved feasibility [12], this research focusing on developing and testing a whole gripper
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