Design of a Robot Gripper for a Rapid Service Robot

Abstract

This research designs a robot gripper for a rapid service robot. For a service robot that moves rapidly, a robot gripper must be lightweight and must have the ability to grasp objects of any size or shape stably. In addition, sufficient gripping force, a low cost, and a friendly shape are necessary. To satisfy the above requirements, this research designs a new robot gripper. We use a four-bar linkage underactuated system for shape adaptability and to reduce the weight. In a simulation, the four-bar linkage is designed to eliminate the rollback ejection phenomenon while also maximizing the utilization of a parallel grasping. While other studies place emphasis on preventing rollback ejection phenomenon, in this research we stress the maximum utilization of both parallel and power grasping using a compliance jaw and a double four-bar linkage design. With the parallel four-bar linkage system, the gripper can perform both parallel grasping and power grasping, allowing it to grip a diverse range of objects. Moreover, the compliant jaw enhances the stability of its grasp, and its worm gear enables the gripper grasp to be stable while also reducing the gripper's weight. With a force sensor, it can manage sensitive force control. In this way, we designed a robot gripper suitable for rapid service robots.