A palm-shape variable-stiffness gripper based on 3D-printed fabric jamming
Soft grippers have excellent adaptability for a variety of objects and tasks. Jamming-based variable stiffness materials can further increase soft grippers' gripping force and capacity. Previous universal grippers enabled by granular jamming have shown great capability of handling objects wi...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/170226 |
| _version_ | 1811682275521200128 |
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| author | Zhao, Yuchen Wang, Yifan |
| author2 | School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering |
| author_facet | School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Zhao, Yuchen Wang, Yifan |
| author_sort | Zhao, Yuchen |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Soft grippers have excellent adaptability for a variety of objects and tasks.
Jamming-based variable stiffness materials can further increase soft grippers'
gripping force and capacity. Previous universal grippers enabled by granular
jamming have shown great capability of handling objects with various shapes and
weight. However, they require a large pushing force on the object during
gripping, which is not suitable for very soft or free-hanging objects. In this
paper, we create a novel palm-shape anthropomorphic variable-stiffness gripper
enabled by jamming of 3D printed fabrics. This gripper is conformable and
gentle to objects with different shapes, requires little pushing force, and
increases gripping strength only when necessary. We present the design,
fabrication and performance of this gripper and tested its conformability and
gripping capacity. Our design utilizes soft pneumatic actuators to drive two
wide palms to enclose objects, thanks to the excellent conformability of the
structured fabrics. While the pinch force is low, the palm can significantly
increase stiffness to lift heavy objects with a maximum gripping force of
$17\,$N and grip-to-pinch force ratio of $42$. We also explore different
variable-stiffness materials in the gripper, including sheets for layer
jamming, to compare their performances. We conduct gripping tests on standard
objects and daily items to show the great capacity of our gripper design. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T03:54:15Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/170226 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T03:54:15Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1702262023-09-04T01:35:34Z A palm-shape variable-stiffness gripper based on 3D-printed fabric jamming Zhao, Yuchen Wang, Yifan School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Engineering::Mechanical engineering Soft Robot Materials And Design Jamming Soft grippers have excellent adaptability for a variety of objects and tasks. Jamming-based variable stiffness materials can further increase soft grippers' gripping force and capacity. Previous universal grippers enabled by granular jamming have shown great capability of handling objects with various shapes and weight. However, they require a large pushing force on the object during gripping, which is not suitable for very soft or free-hanging objects. In this paper, we create a novel palm-shape anthropomorphic variable-stiffness gripper enabled by jamming of 3D printed fabrics. This gripper is conformable and gentle to objects with different shapes, requires little pushing force, and increases gripping strength only when necessary. We present the design, fabrication and performance of this gripper and tested its conformability and gripping capacity. Our design utilizes soft pneumatic actuators to drive two wide palms to enclose objects, thanks to the excellent conformability of the structured fabrics. While the pinch force is low, the palm can significantly increase stiffness to lift heavy objects with a maximum gripping force of $17\,$N and grip-to-pinch force ratio of $42$. We also explore different variable-stiffness materials in the gripper, including sheets for layer jamming, to compare their performances. We conduct gripping tests on standard objects and daily items to show the great capacity of our gripper design. Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Nanyang Technological University This work was supported in part by the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) under MTC IRG Award M21K2c0118, in part by A*STAR AME YIRG Award A2084c0162, and in part by the Nanyang Technological University NAP Award 020482. 2023-09-04T01:35:33Z 2023-09-04T01:35:33Z 2023 Journal Article Zhao, Y. & Wang, Y. (2023). A palm-shape variable-stiffness gripper based on 3D-printed fabric jamming. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 8(6), 3238-3245. https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2023.3266667 2377-3766 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/170226 10.1109/LRA.2023.3266667 2-s2.0-85153378583 6 8 3238 3245 en M21K2c0118 A2084c0162 NAP (020482) IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters © 2023 IEEE. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Engineering::Mechanical engineering Soft Robot Materials And Design Jamming Zhao, Yuchen Wang, Yifan A palm-shape variable-stiffness gripper based on 3D-printed fabric jamming |
| title | A palm-shape variable-stiffness gripper based on 3D-printed fabric jamming |
| title_full | A palm-shape variable-stiffness gripper based on 3D-printed fabric jamming |
| title_fullStr | A palm-shape variable-stiffness gripper based on 3D-printed fabric jamming |
| title_full_unstemmed | A palm-shape variable-stiffness gripper based on 3D-printed fabric jamming |
| title_short | A palm-shape variable-stiffness gripper based on 3D-printed fabric jamming |
| title_sort | palm shape variable stiffness gripper based on 3d printed fabric jamming |
| topic | Engineering::Mechanical engineering Soft Robot Materials And Design Jamming |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/170226 |
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