Abstract
Soft robots have infinite degrees of freedom (DOFs), extremely strong environmental adaptability, and better human-computer interaction. A soft grasping manipulator can grasp objects in a diversified manner, which is an important application and research direction in terms of soft robots. A pneumatic soft actuator structure was designed on the basis of in-depth analysis of the motion mechanism of a soft robot. A kinematic model for the soft actuator and a model for bending deformation of air cavities were established separately to determine the relationship between the bending angle and air pressure. A novel pneumatic soft manipulator with adjustable grasping diameter was designed by utilizing pneumatic soft actuators to realize adaptive grasping of objects with different diameters (within 200 mm). Finally, a physical manipulator was manufactured and the relationship between the bending angle of the soft grasping robot and pressure intensity was experimentally validated. Moreover, tests were conducted to assess the adaptability of the soft manipulator when grasping objects with different diameters, masses, and shapes in order to verify the effectiveness of the soft manipulator.
Highlights
Traditional rigid robots are characterized by high precision, fast response, and high payload
The test was performed on the manipulator to grasp objects of different diameters
Since the fixation device on the fixture is freely adjustable to allow grasping of objects of different diameters, the fixture device was first adjusted to the maximum range when assessing the maximum grasping diameter
Summary
Traditional rigid robots are characterized by high precision, fast response, and high payload. Whitesides designed a soft gripper with six claws by silica gels using the Pneu-Net actuator, which can grasp and unclamp objects through air inflation and deflation. It showed favorable flexibility [9]. Based on the combination of flexible materials with different material properties, a soft manipulator with changeable grasping diameter was designed by controlling its direction of motion of the soft actuator through air inflation. Substituting the above parameters into Equation (7), the relationship between the air pressure and bending angle of the soft actuator can be attained, as shown in Figure 9 and Table 2.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
