Engineers from the Biotechnology Robotics and Design Laboratory of the Singapore University of Technology
Robotic gripper with reprogrammable workspace. Video: SUTD
Soft grips are flexible andsuperelastic materials that allow them to safely and securely grip a wider range of geometries and manipulate fragile objects, the scientists note. But at the same time, traditional soft drives have a limited working grip and are designed to perform highly specialized tasks.
Engineers have developed a soft drive thatovercomes these limitations for the first time. The new device uses multi-modal actuation, in which the soft-grip workspace can be quickly modified to accommodate payloads with different contact area requirements. To achieve this, engineers used variable finger shapes, retractable grips and an expandable palm.
Robotic gripper with reprogrammable workspace. Video: Snehal Jain et al., Soft Robotics
Robotic gripper with reprogrammable workspace. Video: Snehal Jain et al., Soft Robotics
In a series of experiments, researchershave demonstrated that the adjustable working space gripper can hold individual grains of rice or couscous with a radius of up to 1.5 mm, or pick up thin objects up to 300 microns thick, such as business cards or sheets of paper. At the same time, it can handle large and heavy objects, such as lifting a melon, moving cereal boxes or bags weighing up to 1.5 kg.
The capture device allows him to quickly change the configuration of the workspace. Image: Snehal Jain et al., Soft Robotics
The ability of a device to change quicklyallows it to perform a large number of tasks that would otherwise require many different devices. The developers note that the device is useful in the food industry, where it is necessary to simultaneously work with small food products and large containers.
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